Downtown Central Hong Kong
For starters, a lot of people have asked about the living conditions here. The rooms are tiny compared to Stetson (and coming from someone who spent a year in Nemec hall, that's saying quite a bit), although the space provided seems more than adequate considering all of my belongings were crammed into two suitcases from home. Here are some pictures of my dorm room:
I have a roommate, her name is Vera and she's a freshman from Hong Kong. I've only actually seen her for a sum total of five minutes over the past few days, though, and those were just in passing. The only things on her side of the room are a few bags on her desk, a sheet on her bed, and a pillow. I'm not sure if she's waiting until classes start to move in, or if she'll just come and go throughout the semester since she lives here in town. She seems to be a very sweet girl, and it would definitely be nice to have someone who knows the city around to barrage with questions.
As for the campus, it's definitely much larger than what I've been used to for the past three years in DeLand. Walking to the various buildings requires walking about two blocks uphill to the intersection and climbing lots and lots of stairs, all while dealing with the suffocating humidity that apparently won't decrease until December (just in time for my 21st birthday, at least!). The other Stetson students and I seem to be faring the weather better than some of the others- while we're not used to having to walk up so many hills (let's face it, elevation was never an issue in Florida), we've at least dealt firsthand with extreme heat. Luckily, all of the buildings are air conditioned.
The student cafeteria is an interesting comparison to the Commons. It's called BU Fiesta (why they chose to use a Spanish word in the name, I'll never know), and everything is on a cash basis (which is fine because the food is relatively inexpensive). However, instead of picking out food buffet style and being charged accordingly, you select what you'd like to eat from a large menu at the front of the building, pay for it, and then take your receipt to the food service attendants. This system seems to work, although it was slightly confusing on my first morning when I was deliriously trying to figure out how to get my hands on anything edible (granted, it didn't help either that the employees working that day spoke no English, and instead just spoke to me in Mandarin and pointed to the cash register).
Besides these little differences, HKBU is remarkably similar to any other college campus (including the presence of friendly, though overly perky, student ambassadors and freshman orientation shenanigans taking place at all hours of the night for the first few days after move in day). On a broader level, though, I've noticed a few major differences between life in the States and life in Hong Kong. Here are the highlights:
1. Oh, thank Heaven!
My good friend Sean told me about this, but these people have a preternatural love for 7-11 stores. They are literally EVERYWHERE- at the airport, in the markets, around town, etc. They carry some recognizable American brands (M&Ms, for instance), but there are also a lot of snacks that have absolutely no trace of English on the package.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain
I've grown up with the belief that there are two schools of thought on sun protection- there are those who wear hats, and those who wear sunglasses. Apparently that's not the case here. It seems that the main division is gender based. From what I've seen, men don't generally bother with sun protection of any kind, while most women carry umbrellas. Turns out all those paintings in Chinese restaurants of women shading themselves Mary Poppins-style are actually pretty accurate. I've received my fair share of odd stares for my pseudo Wayfarers, but let's face it- I'm not too concerned with trying to fit in here. I'm a 5' 10" caucasian female and the last time anyone accused me of being 'tan' was over a year ago (and I'm pretty sure I was actually sunburnt, not brown).
3. "Oh, you from America!?"
Most of the students I've met have been very eager to speak with me and the other students in English, especially considering most of them have at least a rudimentary handle on the language. Interestingly, it's actually how most Hong Kong natives and mainland China residents interact with each other, since they are normally divided into groups based on whether they speak Mandarin or Cantonese. However, off campus is a different story. While some places are more than willing to communicate in English, others absolutely refuse to make any effort and instead resort to frustration and yelling in their language (more on this later- my friends and I experienced this firsthand the other night at dinner).
4. "A Diva is a female version of a hustla"
There's something so jarring about living halfway around the world from home and experiencing reminders of home in unexpected ways and moments. For instance, some friends and I were looking for bedding in a shopping center a few days ago and were surrounded by people speaking languages we couldn't understand, when all of a sudden "Diva" by Beyonce came over the loudspeakers. Also, I met a guy from mainland China who told me the only thing he knew about the United States was Obama. I found that hard to believe as he shifted his Nike backpack to his other shoulder.
Besides observing the differences between my old life and my newly acquired one, I've also had a few instances that would classify as 'culture shock.' Luckily, I grew up in a household that taught me to always keep a good sense of humor in any situation, so I was able to laugh away my frustration. Nonetheless, my two major "hey, you're not in the States" moments are as follows:
1. Ikea > Yata
On our first full day here, we all had decided that the freebie blankets we took from the airplane weren't necessarily sufficient bed supplies. We embarked on what turned into an all-day search for reasonably priced sheets, pillows, and other bedroom supplies.
Josie was told by a friend on her hall that we should go to an area of town called Sha Tin to find said goods. The subway system (the MTR) is the easiest, cheapest, and most navigable form of public transportation I've ever used (not that I've used that many in Middleburg or DeLand, Florida, but I can still appreciate a system that obviously was on the receiving end of a lot of thought by very smart individuals). After a short journey on the East Rail Line, we arrived in Sha Tin and made our way out of the terminal and into a giant shopping mall. We meandered around, looking for anywhere that looked like it might sell what we were looking for.
Unfortunately, none of the stores seemed to fit that niche. We finally asked someone for assistance (we chose the local Starbucks, assuming someone there would speak English), and were directed upstairs to Yata, a department store which, we were assured, would have just what we needed.
As we entered the store, we all looked at each other with the same slightly nervous look: where should we even start? First off, this place was huge; second, most of the signs were in Chinese of some description; and most importantly, and to reiterate the first point, this place was gigantic. After a few minutes of wandering around, we found the towels section, which was next to the general groceries. Towels are used in bathrooms, which are sort of associated with bedrooms, so we thought we were getting somewhere.
Somewhere, our logic was flawed. We were nowhere near sheets or blankets or anything bed-related. However, since we were in the presence of other needs- groceries and towels- we picked up some items. After selecting a few things, we continued on our search for anything that would fit on the tiny beds we'd be going home to, unfortunately for naught. Feeling fully frustrated, we got in line to pay for our items.
Turns out, though, that you can't just pay for everything at once (that would make too much sense, I rationalized in my American mind). Instead, we were told (in rather poor English) to return to the departments where we found our items, and pay for them individually where they came from.
Suffice it to say that by that point, we just put our stuff back and got the hell out of there, got back on the MTR, and returned to campus empty handed. We were just turning the corner to sulk in our rooms when we noticed a group of mainland students coming from one of the residence halls. Nico stopped to ask them where we could get bedding, and they mentioned that they were going to Ikea.
Ikea! Of all places, Ikea! Why hadn't we thought of that? I mean, it's Swedish, but it was practically American as far as we were concerned. We eagerly followed them back to the MTR station we had just walked from, boarded the line we had just returned from, and got off at the same exact station we had ventured from earlier that day. This time, though, we ventured a few blocks away from the station and found, before us, the shining beacon of hope we needed.
If you haven't ever been to an Ikea, this is all you need to know: it's functional, somewhat trendy, and ridiculously inexpensive. For $345HK (approximately $45USD), I bought sheets, a blanket, a blanket cover, two pillows and pillowcases, an alarm clock, hangers, towels, and a big blue bag to carry it all home in.
We returned back to campus with our goods, and I'm pretty sure that we all proceeded to make our beds and take a much needed nap. At least I did.
2. Riverside Seafood Restaurant
During our orientation, we had a delicious Dim Sum lunch at a local restaurant. Since it was such a good experience, we decided to return for dinner one night.
When we arrived, the employees were very nice to us. We were seated quickly, made our selections for dinner, and relaxed. Once our food was brought to us, though, the evening took a markedly different turn.
Unbeknownst to us, the portions for the meals we ordered were huge, and apparently, it isn't customary for each person to have their own dish- instead, everyone shares. This, of course, explains why all of our meals weren't brought out at the same time. However, since we're a group of polite Americans, we were awkwardly trying to figure out if those whose food was served already should go ahead and eat. As we deliberated on what to do, we noticed one of the waiters staring at our table.
Not just glancing, not just casually looking. STARING.
It's not like we didn't already feel like we were out of place- our group consisted of Josie and I (Americans) and Nico and Flor (who are both from Argentina). As we fumbled through how to enjoy our meal, though, we noticed that he was soon joined by several of the waitresses, too. Every move we made seemed to incur a stifled chuckle or more staring, whether it was Nico trying to use his chopsticks correctly, Flor enjoying her soup from the bowl it was served in, or me staring at my "braised sea cucumber with bean curd" and desperately trying to ascertain whether I had ordered a vegetable or a living creature for dinner.
When we finished, we asked for the check. Of course, it was all together, and there wasn't a trace of English letters or numbers on the thing, which posed a bit of a predicament. Flor decided to just pay for the bill on her credit card, and we all agreed to give her our portion of the cost. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication about the whole situation, because somehow, the ordeal ended up in all of us self consciously laughing about our role as the wait staff's entertainment for the night and Flor being yelled at in Cantonese by the waitress.
We left, and by the time we made it outside, we all had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. Maybe that was the wrong reaction, but it seemed to work for us. I guess it's better to keep your humor than to get upset when no one understands you.
I've started to feel more at home here, especially in the past few days. I think that a lot of that can be attributed to establishing some kind of recognizable routine. For some reason, I keep waking up at 7:00 AM; which is odd for me, having never been a morning person. But it's been a pretty consistent occurrence, and consistency is good, so I haven't tried to argue with my body regarding its new decision to wake before noon.
Jogging has also helped- on top of all the walking, I've picked it up again because it gives me a chance to get out of the dorm and explore some of the local area. There's a really great park near campus, and several students and locals take advantage of the jogging track there.
And, of course, having contact with everyone back home has been incredibly helpful when I'm homesick. Between email, Facebook, Skype, and Twitter, I've managed to stay in touch with my family and boyfriend. And of course, there's snail mail too (and I have pretty postcards to send!), so if you'd like me to send you something, just post your address and I'll drop you a line.
Yesterday we took a tour of Hong Kong, and I saw a lot of really great places that I'll definitely go back to when I have more time. We were limited to 30-45 minutes at each site, so I wouldn't say I fully experienced them enough to write a lot; but I definitely enjoyed each place, and I hope you enjoy the pictures!
Take care, everyone back home. I miss you all and appreciate your willingness to keep up with my life over here.
-Natalie
The view of Repulse Bay, a local beach
Flor and I outside of the Jumbo floating restaurant in Aberdeen
Jumbo, one of the floating restaurants in Victoria Harbor
Stetson students in front of Victoria Harbor, as seen from the Peak: Josie, Nico, Flor, David and me :)
Inside the Jade Market
A man praying inside the Wong Tai Sin temple
