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this is an ongoing topic in my blog and I don't even want to think about this stuff right now but I clicked, I read, and I'm trying to channel what I'm feeling into some shape or form, however incoherent.

I'm bothered by mr. willow's new post because I think about how when I was a Christian I thought about things like I should do this or I'm supposed to do this.  He addresses a question about why it seems Christians suffer hardships more after they become a Christian.  He says it's all in the process of making Christians more like Christ.  As in, without that horrible summer job, he'd never have known what it means to love your neighbor.  It's a good goal, in fact, I can get misty-eyed over it, I just don't like thinking about how, to the "Christian me I used to be" that translated into, supposing I was in a situation like that, oh I have to be Christ to this person even though they don't treat me very nicely, oh I have to not only love them as Jesus would but I have to look for opportunities to share the gospel with them, in short, what is God's will for me in this situation.  I have grievances yes, I question if I was a Christian and if yes at what point and if no at what point, I just don't want to go back to it.  By "it" I mean streaming everything through a frame of mind tuned to a "WIGWSICDI" setting.  What is God's will so I can do it setting.  Perhaps to be Christian, for me, was to have an agenda.  I decided to do away with that agenda.  Remember my cell phone post.

It's nice to think that whatever you're going through as a Christian, it is everything used to perfect you and become more the image of Christ.  Still, I balk at it once the wheels in my head start turning and I start fitting into the mold again of, "how can I use this to become more like Christ?"

aloha~

Today I ventured out by myself again, and it was fun.  Sometimes I wish I had someone to share it with, though.  Helen had other plans already.

I'm settling into a "me" routine.  I borrowed a book from the library to read, I have fruit, snacks, and chocolate stored in my room, I make a schedule every night, eat regularly at the canteens... add on to that a new environment to explore, a roommate I get along with, and some time spent doing homework and seems like I'm doing okay.

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bah, humbug.  So I finally bought a cup today and therefore stopped by Park n Shop to buy beverages so I can drink juice or soy milk or w/e while in my dorm.  (I've been refilling my water bottle and drinking water all the time.)  In addition, I bought yogurt.  I put three items into the refrigerator: soy milk, cranberry/pomegranate juice, and yogurt.  When I came back later, I saw a sign on the fridge saying, "Guys, please take your own stuff.  If you are hungry go to Park n Shop!!!"  or something to that extent.  I'd heard of food disappearing from the refrigerators and stuff, coz even if you put your name on it, it's public access.. But I figured hey, all the girls here are (mostly) local students and we all seem nice, right?  I checked the fridge to make sure my stuff was still there.  Guess what?  My yogurt was gone!  I just checked again to make sure I didn't miss it in all the plastic bags and cartons crowding the shelves, but it's not there.  So I told my roommate the sad news, and she went to check, and some of her stuff's gone too!  I was like sheesh who's going to eat three cups of yogurt in one sitting... and she said, it's not that, but it could be someone from another floor who comes down and takes it... grrr. 

In Cantonese class, we learned the "ah" for confirmation.  The teacher randomly picks on students to demonstrate, and one of the guys is named Graham.  "What's your name?"  "My name is Graham."  "Oh, Graham ah."  (It turned out like "grandma.")

Later... "Are you an American?"  "No I'm not an American."  ......"Do you have tea?"  "Yes, I have two cups of tea.  And you?" (Three people are talking.)  "Whoa.. that was a lot of words..."

A different group is selected.  Teacher includes "mat yeh" (what kind) to the vocab list.  After introductions, the conversation digresses to......."Do you have tea?"  "Yes, I have tea."  "What kind of tea do you have?"

Totally cracking up...

In some instances, people don't buy books here; the teacher puts the books on reserve and students photocopy the necessary chapters by themselves.  If they're lucky, the tutor (T.A.) makes several sets of the readings for students to photocopy.  I haven't had to purchase textbooks for any of my classes yet.

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The other day I was at the library for an orientation.  I read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery... had to check spelling... First time reading it !!  It's a sad book, for all the hopeful aphorisms that people quote from it.  What I like most from the book is a detail about volcanoes.  What cemented it as a sad book was the mini-biographical sketch of the author that they placed at the end.  Bah... won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

I saw (half of) the moon today!  Then it occurred to me: duh!  Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!  There has to be a moon in Hong Kong...

Yesterday I went to Mongkok with Helen and May.  It wasn't difficult to get there, since May knew the way.  First, we had dinner at a restaurant (yea, no canteen food!) and then we found ourselves at Woman Street.  We walked down the several blocks that it extended. Later, we had some stinky tofu with three different types of seasoning.  It was good, a big block of hot tofu (lol) but I prefer the sauce that I usually eat with it (a soy sauce-type liquid).  Oh, the first stop we made after getting out of the MTR station was a mall.  We wandered the few floors mostly in search of a restroom lol.  During our trip to Mong Kok, we walked along small alleyways, big boulevards, and crowded streets.  I kept my backpack in front of me in case of pickpockets.  We went to 許劉山 (xu liu shan) where we ate mango pudding with mixed fruits.  Yay for fruit!  We also ate curry fish balls which was good.  Later, we bought coconut juice.  Lots of eating!

I'd thought Mongkok was only a few blocks wide and long, but it's a lot bigger than I imagined.  Wear good walking shoes   There was one street that sold only shoes.  When May stopped at one store to look for baby clothes for her niece, I found a pink shirt for $10HKD (about $1.25 USD) and bought it.  [It takes a long time for the dryers at I-House to dry clothes, so instead of waiting an hour+ I decided to dry them for 24 minutes and hang them up.  By the time I was leaving to go out, none of my clothes were dry, so I wore the driest of my clothes I could find.  Buying the pink shirt helped though, because I was able to wear that today .]  That was a good find; I'd been looking for a plain pink t-shirt to replace the one that was color-damaged in the wash in the U.S. and I found it here, instead!

At one point, we also returned to the mall we first stopped at, where we looked around for a backpack for me.  I ended up purchasing a polka-dotted one (yes, dots) for $69HKD.  I had anticipated spending less than $200, so this was another good find.

Today has been a good day thus far.  I got more sleep last night than any other night, I think.  I slept around 12 and got up once around 7 and went back to sleep, then woke up again around 11.  Sweet, precious sleep!  I ate at the canteen.  Guess what I ordered?  Minced pork and eggplant!  Hong Kong must be changing me, because I usually don't eat pork, and I usually hate eggplant (something about the texture..).  But I liked it muhahaha.  Then I got a call from my mom!  I'd called her on the way to the canteen, but couldn't figure out exactly how to use the phone card.  Then she called me on my way back, incidentally.  We talked on the hostel phone for more than an hour.   Apparently, I'm still sick... boo.  Hopefully it goes away quickly.

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I was on the bus coming back from grocery shopping when I heard Don McLean's American Pie playing from bus speakers.  It reminded me of years ago when I went to CTY and was introduced to this song.  I was away from home then, as I am now... I'm glad I'm taking it a lot better this time around! =)

I think my schedule's pretty much set; I'm just going to stick with the classes I have, though I had wanted to change "Urban and Regional Planning" to a Social Work related class.  This means I have class M, W, R, and F.

Hurray for finishing the first week of classes!

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I wonder what the ladies at the canteen are like.  There's this one lady who's adamant about not only ensuring the tables are wiped down, but that the chairs are pushed into the tables.  How seriously she takes her work makes me wonder what she thinks about her job (did she want to be a "cafeteria lady"?) and what her life is like outside of her job.  It's like someone doing a mini-documentary on the lives of canteen workers, matching people to a job title.

I think I'm at a good place when I stop focusing on myself and how I feel, but look outside of myself and care for the people around me.

I just read another blog from a CUHK exchange student from 2005-2006.  (I'd read a couple of blogs and perused some public photo albums before I came to HK.)  I never read all the entries, especially since some of them stay for a year, so that would be impossible, but I read multiple entries.  She seems like a mature traveler =P  I can be independent in a new environment, but I also need some level of stability.  Too many random variables, and I act like a deer caught in the headlights.

I've been putting off my SLW3370 reading (Human Rights and the Law class) because there's always something else that requires less brain-power that I can do.  However, I will reread Roe v. Wade by Monday.

I signed up for a Po Toi Island and Lamma Island one-day excursion today.  A lot of international students have it in mind to travel to as many of the neighboring countries as they can.  By comparison, I think I'm a lot less ambitious, because I can't be gone every weekend if I want to get my studies done, too!  I hope to travel around HK and visit China.

bahggg

i feel conflicted.  today i stepped on someone's toes and was shot a very dirty look after a prolonged silence in which i waited for her to respond to my, "I'm so sorry, are you OK?"  it was a mistake and we happened to step in the same direction to get out of each other's ways... i walked around afraid of getting in people's ways after that sheesh!  i didn't like feeling like that.  all scared and apologetic.  just because of one thing.

also another thing's bugging me but hopefully i get a resolution soon...

anyway i ate both meals alone today, going to the canteens always has this feeling of structured chaos i guess, coz it's loud and people are moving in and out and the cleaning ladies pick up after you right when you finish your last bite.  getting around campus isn't as bad anymore because it isn't too long before a bus comes... the first few days were the worst in terms of 1) climbing hills and 2) humidity, but i'm slowly and surely getting used to things here.  heheh i like talking with my roommate

today in cantonese i learned dim sam words!  ngoh jungyi hacheung.  neih jung m jungyi sihk dim sam?  neih jungyi mat yeh dim sam?  neih jung m jungyi da bo?  neih giu me meng a?  ngoh haih christina.  etc etc.

i hope everyone's doing well!

Logistics-wise, if you're coming to HK for a temporary stay you should bring a cell phone that's "unlocked" and purchase a SIM card when you get here from a 7-11.  The SIM card will give you an 8-digit mobile phone number and you can start using it right away.  You can dial local numbers with it, but if you want to make an international call you can purchase a phone/calling card for that purpose.  Also, buy a plug adapter (no effect on voltage, just adapts the shape of your plug to fit the outlets here) and make sure your electrical appliances are dual voltage (if it says 110 ~ 220 it's good).

I was feeling kinda lonely the other day and looked up at the sky and tried to find the moon but I couldn't.  I was thinking about the precious-moments-y scene where both people, though far apart distance-wise, are looking up at the moon at the same time.

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I didn't have class today, not yet anyway.  I went to central campus to eat and buy fruit -- I feel like fruits and vegetables are scarce in the canteen meals; usually it's a heaping of rice + meat... I should take more pictures of the campus.  Today Helen and I saw on the menu: "In Duded Soup + Rice" hahahahaha it wasn't until I saw a variant of that, "In duded Soup + Rice" did I realize it meant included soup and rice.  Helen and I were clueless until *bing* lightbulb.  hahaha.  What's duded soup??  Today I ate ramen at the canteen (filed under "Japanese food") and it was pretty good.  There was actually a modest amount of vegetables in duded.  As I was eating, it started raining outside, and suddenly it was raining inside, too!  A one foot by one foot area in the ceiling started raining, I found it pretty funny coz everyone in the canteen was like "waah..." and I felt privileged haha that I had my own private rainstorm indoors.  It came down really quickly because the buckets filled inch by inch in a matter of minutes.

I ate at New Asia College with Helen for dinner and afterwards visited her room.  Grace Tien Hall is nice and homey   Her roommate May is funny.  Helen says neither of them can read Chinese very well so when they see notices of events in the hall, they can only guess at what may be happening on a given day.  Turns out they had a building meeting tonight hehe.  My flatmate tells me that most locals sleep very late, at 3 or 4 in the morning, because they stay up to play games or chat.

La la la... Today was a better day even though it was the first day of classes!  I caught the 8:55 I-House shuttle to central campus where I headed straight for the bank coz I needed money, and they only let you deposit money one business day after opening your account.  I waited on the wrong line at first, so overall I stood in line an hour before getting my transactions done... then I headed to OAL with the add/drop form and also picked up my Octopus card student application.  I went to the KCR station but found out I had to hand in the form at Kowloon Tong and I didn't have time to go there, so I went to eat instead, by myself, and then went to my first class!  It was at Science Centre and it was my law course tutorial.  It was pretty fun!!  Basically tutorial is discussion sxn.  It was about 10 people and one of the students from Sheffield was there, the other exchange student in that tutorial, and we talked about cases we've studied involving rights, what are human rights, which ones come to mind, what branch of gov't should decide a case like William Roy Leung's, etc.  I didn't feel uncomfortable, though I didn't speak up in the beginning when I had answers because I just didn't, but she called on me and it felt great to contribute.  I headed for my Cantonese class, hitting dead ends on the way but finding my way alright, and hehe the teacher reminds me of Chen Lao shi because he says "dak m dak" a lot and Bella always said, "dong bu dong" and his teaching style is similar in some ways.  That means he's a good teacher, right?  Haha.. we had a lot of info thrown at us from a photocopied packet, like numbers and greetings and tones... hahah he made us sing, too.  it's not going to be easy for me, that is, it's going to require practice from me to do well with the oral tests.  ngo m haih heunggong yahn.  ngo haih meihgwok yahn.  hahah.  afterwards i decided to go to the kcr station and get myself over to kowloon tong to get the octopus card, which i did, then stopped at shatin to get a hair dryer, and i ended up shopping kinda looking around for a bag b/c my bookbag is breaking on me, but i didn't get anything.  I did go to kee wah bakery (sp) and bought some bakery bread for mornings.  I wanted to eat at a "taiwanese cafe" but it turned out it didn't really serve meals and it was too expensive.  finally i got back to uc and ate at the canteen.

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interestingly, mightymarce has posted about john mccain's age and how if he were to become president, it increases the likelihood that he may die in office, which means sarah palin, vp, would have a possibility of becoming president.  (the question of experience comes up.)  her latest post involves sarah palin and her five-month old baby who has Down syndrome and if her responsibilities of work and family come into conflict with each other (though she is a mother to five so is arguably capable of handling both).  what do you think?  any thoughts?

*deep breath*  I just posted pictures on facebook..  not the best quality nor do they capture the best images but they will do.  i had another uncomfortable night... waking up every few hours... still sweaty.. can't wait for mid-september to come, i think that's when things will cool down.  i plan to do laundry today, get started on homework (yuck..) and somehow make it to the canteen to eat... i see myself eating by myself a lot... "lonely, i'm so lonely.." adlfsdfhlkjh must get a grip on things.  i can't figure myself out... am i just too high-strung, too picky about details, too self-critical, think too much.

i don't feel at peace right now.  i feel queasy from the adrenaline coursing through me, uncertain about all the stuff i think i should get done today...

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I just climbed up from Sir Run Run Shaw Hall to United College.  sweat is still running down my back .  I waited 40 minutes for the bus, but I think something was wrong because it never showed.  *sigh*  I can't do math but I climbed up many stairs today.  When I did laundry the elevator was out of order and I climbed to the 7th floor (but really 8th because 1st floor here is ground floor) three times.

So yeah I did laundry today, met a guy who's studying at SUNY Binghamton.. for dinner I went to central campus to eat with Helen, her roommate, and her friends.  I liked them but again, I don't know maybe I'm too self-conscious or afraid of something.. Afterwards, I bought bananas.  Yay!

Oh yeah my roommate moved in today =)  she seems nice.

Tomorrow, classes start.  meep

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I just got a phone from Jessica, the girl who went to Stuy who lives in the same flat as me!  I really don't know what was wrong with my phone, but I guess this will do.

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I feel tons better now.  Not only did I shower, and it's not as humid tonight as previous nights (i.e. I don't need a shower 5 minutes after getting out of one) but I was able to be of help earlier translating between Chinese and English, by chance as I was in the Management Office printing something for tomorrow, and I feel more at ease with my roommate.  I also think I need to stop thinking of my stay here as temporary and as "4 more months" but to take in HK fully as I'm here, and not focus on what I want from home.  :]