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.