Week Thirteen: Thanksgiving and Disneyland

From where I'm currently siting in Pacific Coffee, I can hear Frank Sinatra singing something that's dripping with holiday cheer, the scent of coffee fills the air, and tacky fake snowflakes are hanging from the ceiling. My friends and I have claimed our usual spots on the couches and chairs, where our laptops click away on assignments and Facebook chats. A coffee server just walked by to say hello, and commented that we've all been rather quiet today (apparently our holiday cheer normally takes on a louder volume). Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm actually leaving Hong Kong soon, and that everything that seems so normal here is going to be over in 18 more days.

All of the holiday spirit around HK has made me miss home tremendously. I actually think I've been more homesick in the past week than I was during my first month here. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I've never been away from my family for it until this year. My friend Joey (another American) and I had the idea earlier in the semester to have our own Thanksgiving feast so we could share our holiday traditions with our friends here.

Normally, I roll out of bed sometime around eleven on on Thanksgiving, walk out to the living room to catch the last bits of the Macys parade, and eat a nice big breakfast that will last until dinner is ready. We couldn't watch the parade here, but our day began with a hearty breakfast of omelettes, followed by an afternoon of napping and Arrested Development DVDs. That afternoon, we trekked to the local grocery store in search of the necessities we'd need to prepare our feast. Around seven that evening, we all came together for a great dinner after some extensive planning, hours of cooking, and some clever improvisation (we had to buy thickly sliced turkey from the local deli, since HKBU doesn't trust its students enough to have ovens in the residence halls; also, we used empty beer pitchers to pour gravy).

Devon, Simone, Nicola and Marie preparing mashed potatoes and crepes

My contribution, pumpkin pie

Our Thanksgiving table

Joey, displaying our gravy containers- American ingenuity at its finest.

After our meal, Devon showed everyone how to make hand turkeys. There's something about giving a group of 20-somethings access to crayons and paper that brings out everyone's inner 5-year-old. Between the food, the turkeys, and the pumpkin pie (which apparently isn't popular in other countries?!?), we convinced everyone why being an American is so great for at least one day a year.

All of the hand turkeys

The Thanksgiving group

Of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without some kind of Christmas movie to end the night. Luckily, someone had Elf on DVD, so we finished our day with a healthy dose of Will Ferrell-infused holiday laughter.

The next day was my friend Nicola's birthday, and she wanted to go to Disneyland to celebrate. Although Disneyworld is only a short distance from Stetson, I haven't bothered to go since I was nine years old; suffice it to say, the shortage of Disney magic in my life revealed itself as we neared the park. I firmly believe that if China can pump chemicals into the air to make snow fall, then Disneyland could very possibly be pumping endorphins into the air. Whether or not that's actually the case, I found myself smiling and giggling like I was nine years old again from the moment I stepped through the gate.

Our group in front of Cinderella's castle

Disneyland reminded me of Magic Kingdom (well, from what I remember of it, at least). We found Space Mountain and rode that three times; took a spin on the carousel; took a faster spin in the Mad Hatter teacups; and my friend Stefan and I floated through a Christmas-themed replication of It's A Small World. We even found Buzz Lightyear!

All of us, posed with the Galactic Alliance's strongest member

A few months ago, a friend of mine from high school emailed me to let me know that his ship was going to be stationed in HK over Thanksgiving weekend. I hadn't seen my friend Fraley since I was in 9th grade and we had drama class together, so it was wonderful to catch up with each other.

Fraley and I posing with Merlin

By the end of the day, we were all excited to see the Christmas tree lit up and to see the fireworks show. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out quite right; so enjoy this short video.

I don't know if it was the Disney magic or all the holiday spirit floating in the air, but I can't describe how happy I was to share this weekend with good friends, new and old.

Merry Christmas!

Week Twelve: Buddhas, Roommate Bonding, and Christmas in the Kong

I don't know that much about Buddhism, but Buddhas are hard to avoid when you live in Hong Kong. During my time here, I've stood in the shadow of the largest Buddha statue on earth, read The Dharma Bums (which is a wonderful mixture of Buddhism, self-discovery, and Kerouac's notoriously brilliant prose), and this week, I ventured to the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas.

The Temple of 10,000 Buddhas

The path leading to the Temple

The journey to the actual Temple spans a considerable uphill climb, which is lined with (literally) thousands of unique Buddha statues. Among the many figures, there are so many differences- some have long beards, some appear happy, others appear to be deep in thought, and some towards the end of the trail were downright frightening. My favorite statues, though, were the ones that seemed to invite visitors to take advantage of their poses. Along the path, my friends and I stopped to take touristy pictures.

Shaking hands with a very diplomatic Buddha

Buddha, trying to get reception

One of the most interesting things to observe here has been the different social habits of local and exchange students. While it's no secret that exchange students generally go out to drink socially more often than local students, there still exists a veil of uncertainty regarding what both groups actually do once they leave the residence halls.

HKBU doesn't allow us to have alcohol on campus, so generally, if no one wants to go downtown to enjoy the drink specials in Lan Kwai Fong or SoHo, we'll venture to the local 7-11, buy a can or two of cheap beer, and hang out in the park. It's completely legal to do so, too, which is a refreshing change from the laws back home, where popping open a can of beer outside of a convenience store is the fastest way to be labeled as a degenerate of society.

One night, as I was aimlessly Facebook stalking my friends back home, my friend Gabriela poked her head into my room. "Get up, Nat. We're going to the park."

"Who is involved in this 'we'?"

"Our roommates." My roommate, Vera, poked in her head, followed by Gabriela's roommate Melody.

I couldn't put my hoodie on fast enough. Despite the cold, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show Vera and Melody what being an exchange student is like on a typical non-party night.

First stop: 7-11.

Me, Vera, Melody, and Gabriela

We spent the next few hours in the park, where we were joined by a few more of our hall's residents. After a few sips of beer, Gabriela and I found ourselves in the middle of an impromptu Tai Chi lesson. If drinking in the park and learning Chinese martial arts isn't the epitome of culture blending, I don't know what is.

Tsingtao + Tai Chi = success.

With the arrival of cold weather and the end of November drawing near, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in the Kong. Walking through the halls of campus is like walking through an endless sea of sweaters and scarves, end-of-semester assignments are coming dangerously close to their deadlines, and the mall is decked out in holiday decorations.

The three-story Christmas tree at Festival Walk

In light of the holiday spirit, my friends and I decided to visit the ice rink at the mall (because doing so earlier in the semester would have seemed ironically inappropriate, given the unbearable heat that has only recently subsided).

Devon, Jemelyn, Nicola and me at the Festival Walk ice rink

I think ice skating is like learning to ride a bike; once you learn how to do it right (or well enough to not fall over every few seconds), you don't really forget how it works. Coincidentally enough, I learned to ice skate when I was four years old and lived in Maine. My mom insisted on enrolling me into lessons, though I was too busy standing in the corner of the rink and complaining about being cold to learn anything more advanced than basic gliding. Luckily, my dismally noncompliant days of ice skating lessons came through for me, and I managed to stay upright for almost the entire night (unfortunately, my competitive nature came through, as well, and I took a pretty nasty tumble while trying to get a head start in a race with my friend Devon).

Next week should be exciting- some of the other Americans and I are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Although I hate that I won't be home for my favorite holiday, I'm thankful for this experience, and for all of the wonderful people that I've been able to share it with.

Week Eleven: ....STUDYING abroad?

I live by the 'work hard, play hard' philosophy, and to be quite honest, I've worked MUCH harder than I've played for my entire life.

One of my mom's favorite stories about my childhood is that I couldn't wait to start kindergarten so that I could start earning a 'college trip' (translation, for those of you who didn't know me when I was a pint-sized, pigtailed, four-year-old: scholarship). In high school, I worked two part time jobs during my senior year, while taking two college- level classes and completing the final stages of my hunt for the perfect university. During my sophomore year of college, I took my 'work hard' philosophy to an unhealthy extreme by committing to three jobs on campus. Ironically enough, one of those jobs was as a Resident Assistant, and the theme for my residence hall was Wonder Woman- I think I was subconsciously channeling the image I was trying to fulfill for myself to the thirty girls whose door plates featured pictures of the spandex-clad superhero.

Hong Kong has been a much-needed break from all of that. For the first time in my adult life, I've been able to play as hard as I'd like to because I'm not employed anywhere, I don't have a terribly demanding class schedule, and my work load has been significantly lower than what I have grown to expect from my professors back home. If there's one thing that should be clear by now, from my posts about boat parties, trips to other parts of China, and anecdotes about nights out with my friends, it's this: I have a life.

This week, though, my social life had to take a back seat to the life I'll be coming home to (very soon, might I add). If all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, then all play and no work makes Natalie a second-semester senior with bad grades and no journalism internship. And, quite frankly, I'm not about to let that happen.

Want to see what I've been up to lately?

Since everything is crossed out, here's the synopsis: "Moral Leadership midterm, group project preparation, finalize work agreement for next semester, go to the gym, work on communications assignment, sort through old articles, work on internship applications, correct resume, attend lecture from HKBU's Pulitzer Prize Winners Week, study for Hollywood Cinema midterm, Matt's birthday party."

Or, in other words:

Real life: 10

Social life: 1 (To be fair, though, the sole representative for Team Social Life had a stellar performance this week, thanks to the combined efforts of everyone who wanted our friend Matt, a fellow American, to have an American-style 21st birthday. Who cares that the legal age here is 18?).

Basically, this week has reminded me that studying abroad isn't always glamorous and exciting. Sure, last week I went to Beijing- but this week I had to study for a midterm, prepare a presentation, and compile my resume for upcoming internship application deadlines. For the past few months, I've had the luxury of viewing my workouts as a way to kill some time and get back in shape- but this week I genuinely needed those hour-long retreats at the gym just so I could clear my head of all the other things listed in my planner. Friday nights are normally designated for exploring the night life of Hong Kong with my friends, but sometimes we just raid one of the residence hall lounges and watch True Blood.

Even when assignments pile up and the stress chocolate comes out, though, I'm completely happy with my life here. College life is college life, no matter the latitude and longitude it takes place in- if I was back in DeLand, I'd be going through similar situations at this point in the semester. Instead of drafting cover letters in Pacific Coffee, I'd be setting up shop in a corner of Boston Coffee. If I wasn't watching True Blood with my friends to unwind late at night, I'd be watching trashy reality TV in the Pi Phi chapter room with my sorority sisters.

Maybe it sounds exotic to say that I'm currently living in Hong Kong, but pretty beaches and impressive skyscrapers can't rescue me from deadlines. I'm glad for that, though. After playing hard for 2 1/2 months, I don't mind working hard until the last few reminders are crossed out of my planner.

There's a note that says 'going home' on December 21. I just hope I can see and experience everything I want to before I have to cross it out.

Week Ten: Beijing

A few years ago, I learned about the importance of skepticism in a journalism class with Andy Dehnart. On an ordinary afternoon in his classroom, he handed out a piece of paper which is still tucked safely away amidst the papers and articles that I've deemed to be worth holding on to. It said:

"Skepticism is a weapon. It deflects spin, propaganda, P.R., B.S., press agents, publicity seekers, hearsay, unnamed sources, and anyone with a hidden agenda. Skepticism is that little voice that tells you you'll never be a millionaire with little or no money down. Skepticism is that sneaking suspicion that all aspirin are alike. Skepticism is a quality shared by truth seekers, freethinkers, and realists. Skepticism demands proof and facts be unsanitized, uncensored, and unembellished. Skepticism makes the world accountable. Skepticism is a virtue."

I hadn't really consciously thought about that quote since I've been here in Hong Kong, until I sat down to write this post about my experience in Beijing. Amidst the grandeur of a city that boasts visual reminders of the extraordinary potential of human achievement, I found myself face-to-face with reminders of why skepticism is important.

Upon arriving in Beijing and checking into our hostel (the Beijing Heyuan International Youth Hostel, which I would highly recommend to anyone who appreciates a warm bed, friendly service, and a safe, affordable place to stay), my friend Lauren and I set out to meet with our friends who had already arrived in the city the day before. We decided to meet at the Olympic Green, where the 2008 Olympics took place. Despite the cold weather and mild rain, we navigated our way through the subway system, excited to be reunited with our traveling companions. When we arrived at our stop and left the station, though, we were confronted with a bit of a dilemma on how to find everyone. After about 20 minutes of wandering around, we were told to "look for the McDonalds by the big blue building." Of course, looking back now, it's funny that the only way we could find each other was to meet at one of the most recognizable symbols of Western culture.

We spent the next hour catching up over Big Macs and french fries before taking the obligatory tourist picture in front of the Birds Nest and heading back to our hostel. Our plan for the next morning was to visit the Great Wall, so we turned out the light in our 8-person room that night at a modest hour so that we would all be ready for our first big adventure together.

The morning dawned crisp and bright- autumn had definitely arrived in Beijing. Around 10AM, we set out to find the bus station which would take us to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, this task turned out to be much more frustrating than we could have ever anticipated. Though we were fully aware of how obviously foreign we looked, we weren't prepared for the level of deception we encountered. As we looked for the bus station, we were told by several people, "Oh no, there's no bus to the great wall after 10AM, you'll have to take a private taxi. And even if you could find a bus, it would charge you 50 yuan to get there. Here, I'll take you for 40 each, just get in my van over here..."

This assertion, of course, seemed particularly suspicious considering that (a) the Great Wall is arguably China's most popular tourist attraction, (b) there's absolutely no logic to a public transportation system that stops running after 10AM, and (c) none of the individuals encouraging us to get into their vans had the proper taxi driver identification. Eventually, we found the bus station, but we ended up wasting about 20 minutes in the wrong line (even though we were assured that 'Oh yes, this is the line for the bus to the Wall!') before finally finding the bus we were looking for. When we boarded, though, all of the seats were full; so for the next hour, we stood in the aisle after paying our 12 yuan fare.

Arriving at the Badaling entrance to the Great Wall was something I will always remember. After investing in some gloves from a local vendor, we started our journey of walking along one of the world's most impressive remnants of history. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear and blue, and as we walked, we shed our layers of sweaters to embrace the autumn air. We stopped to take in the scenery in the comfortable silence that only ever happens in the presence of good friends. To put it plainly: the Great Wall is every bit as breathtaking, impressive, and beautiful as it looks in pictures.

By the time we returned from the Great Wall, we were hungry and in desperate need of sustenance, so we stopped at the first restaurant we saw once we left the subway station near our hostel (which happened to be a Pizza Hut- again with the Western culture thing...). Afterward, we headed downtown to explore Beijing's nightlife on Halloween.

Unfortunately, our goal of finding a nice bar where we could relax, take in a drink or two, and just enjoy each other's company turned out to be harder to achieve than we had planned for. The first bar that we tried was absolutely awful. You would think that an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages would know that vodka is generally supposed to be included in a vodka tonic, but I'm fairly certain that only a few drops (at most) made it into my cup. Conversely, though, some of the girls ordered Mai Tais which were completely undrinkable because they had too much alcohol. We all watched our friend Devon sipping from his modest can of Sprite with complete envy.

That little can of Sprite ended up costing more than he'd bargained for, though, as we found out upon our attempt to leave. Those of us who had ordered drinks from the bar paid our tabs (about 40-45 yuan each). The bartender informed Devon that his drink was 40 yuan, to which he (understandably) insisted that there was no way a can of Sprite cost the same as a Mai Tai, and demanded to see a menu. The bartender's response was "Oh, we don't have a menu" (which was untrue) and "Sorry, it's just more expensive today" (which was infuriating, to say the least). After a few minutes of heated debate, the situation diffused. The boys returned to the hostel, and us girls optimistically tried another bar (which served equally unimpressive drinks, though they were at least reasonably priced). As we sat in our booth, we noticed flurries of snow falling outside. Despite the frustration and anger we felt towards the discrimination we experienced in trying to visit the wall and at the other bar, we couldn't contain our laughter.

I woke the next morning to my friend Nicola saying, "Hey, guys? Look outside. It's snowing."

Sure enough, we were present for the first official snowfall of the season, which lasted well into the afternoon. Though we were vastly underprepared for the cold weather, we donned our layers of sweaters and jackets to go see the Temple of Heaven, a cluster of Taoist temples that date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Everyone besides Lauren and I left that afternoon to catch their flights back to Shenzhen, so the two of us spent the rest of the day lounging around the warm, dry hostel. After all, our experience with the 'nightlife' didn't exactly leave us pining for more poorly-made drinks in bad bars, anyway.

During our final day in Beijing, we saw Tian'anmen Square, which was a surreal experience. I remember learning about the 'June 4 incident' (as it's called by the Chinese government, who still purports that only 241 casualties arose from the massacre) in high school, and to see the site where thousands of students and protestors stood up to the military force imposed on them by the government was a visceral moment that I'm not sure how to explain. I stood before the Monument to the People's Heroes, where the protests began; I saw, with my own eyes, the massive Square where hundreds of thousands gathered in the name of democracy.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of tourists and street vendors, I could almost hear the echoes of what happened 20 years before.

By the time we finished walking through Tian'anmen Square and the outer courts of the Forbidden City, Lauren and I had just enough time to go back to the hostel and grab our belongings before departing for the airport to come back to HK.

Landing in Hong Kong felt like coming home, which isn't altogether surprising, considering I've lived here for 2 1/2 months now; nonetheless, it made me think a lot about what 'home' really means to me. I grew up in a Navy family, so until we moved to Florida, I didn't really have a set 'home' because we were moving every year or two. For me, though, coming home is a process that always brings the comfort of returning to what I know as familiar and true. And I guess in that way, coming home to Hong Kong was all of those things in comparison to my visit to Beijing. Sure, the thrill of seeing a new city is rooted in its unfamiliarity; but the layout of the city wasn't what seemed so alien to me.

I was more surprised that in a city which just last year hosted people from all over the world for the Olympics, foreigners are still blatantly discriminated against. I was still shocked that the government placed blocks on so much of the internet- I was able to access my gmail account at the hostel, but not my blog, Twitter, or Facebook accounts (though that shouldn't really surprise me, I suppose, considering that the government doesn't even allow Google to show any reports about what really happened at Tian'anmen Square besides those written by the party's media outlets). Most disappointing, though, was the discovery that even the snow wasn't real. It was chemically induced by the government.

I enjoyed seeing all of the sites in Beijing, but maybe ignorance really is bliss. I was happier when this picture was taken than I am now, knowing that the first snowflake to land on my tongue in over ten years was a product of the government.