Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Kung Hei Fat Choy! Happy New Year!
The holidays have ended and life is back to normal, or at least by Hong Kong standards I assume. Classes started today and I came to Uni and was taken completely by surprise by the masses of people walking through the halls and corridors. Of course it is natural- it is a University- but I didn’t have time to think about how it would be with all the students inside. It was like a second sensation of being dropped into Mongkok- finding a place that was empty for the past two weeks suddenly filled with life and people- a complete transformation- and gone was the feeling of security and familiarity in this huge and unknown place amassed piece by piece and not completely effortless during the time here. Squeezing into an elevator and surrounded by Cantonese words, which are a complete mystery still, and conversation (?), laughter, jokes, which I am not part of. Spotting out every non-Asian looking by hair color from the masses. Seeking hold, but lost -again. Have to get used to it. I know.
But it is not easy, especially since I try to confront myself directly, with everything, constantly, which is probably also not the right way to do it all the time. Maybe I see in myself first signs of resignation and rejection of all that is here; just because it gets to be a bit too much to still be manageable. Example: I had dim sum (don’t know if that is the right spelling) today for lunch- it is a Chinese dish eaten as lunch/breakfast and served in round bamboo frames with nets, where the steam when it still sits on the counter can go through to keep it warm/ripen it (anyone who knows better please correct me). The dish can be salty or sweet, usually including some meat or seafood inside a rice dough/ball or cream/bread-like sour cream. And only now, when trying it the second time, I started to wonder what exactly was inside the dough which made the whole thing taste awful. The fact that I asked he student next to me what he was getting; the question answered by “chicken feet” which in turn looked much like my dough-rolls, might have contributed to that feeling of being sick.
And the cultural shock does not end with the food but is only the best way to exemplify it. Concretizise. Another slight disappointment was the clash with further bureaucracy of the school admin. I have so far only undergrad courses registered, since this is what the exchange agreement only extends to. The first and only lecture so far was the intro to “Fixed Income Securities” – a good visiting lecturer, as confused (and jet lagged) as me, from the U.S., and a class consisting of mainly 18-year-olds who could not stop talking. Annoying, de-motivating (but am not sure what annoyed me more, the talk or fact that it was all Cantonese or just the boring content- almost as basic as the question: does anyone know what a swap is?; wow I must sound like an arrogant bitch right now). The girls are dressed like little puppets or then in black business suits – and someone tell me Kauppis has clichés! I thought smart people would not look like idiots. I hope the sarcasm shines through.
Well, no postgrad (that’s what they call the Master’s here) courses for me- don’t want to be in school for class on Saturdays- am not that eager! It would furthermore require our coordinator to ask for a “favor” which here is a big thing. Why can’t I just be classified as a M.Sc.? I know I know, I should be open minded and not too prejudiced- the courses are as much as one should believe rumors- very difficult and grades are given along “curves” meaning –since all Asians study real hard and 24/7- the requirement for a “B” will be around 90% or higher. Crazy (have I written about this already?). I just wanna pass. And I should be humble and not set too high expectations for myself or any other exchange students around me. Avoid the embarrassment factor…
Am now sitting here in front of my laptop eating my favorite Tim Tams introduced to me by an Australian friend and drinking (one of my) favorite (red) wine (s) which I discovered today –even being quite cheap- in a local supermarket. And with local supermarket you might imagine a small kiosk or convenience store –we have these too in Tai Po Tsai where we live along the main road. They sell fishballs grilled on the street, and other small things, smell like smoke and noodles and have benches in front where you can see the same old men (and sometimes one weird guy from Britain) drinking beer every night, eating and chatting. One can meet amazingly weird people here (but in a good sense weird). There is only one road through the village and all the houses are located along this road with small lanes full of pots with vegetables, flowers, with washing machines, barbecues, chairs, toys etc. between these buildings. All canalization or at least some of the drainage pipes are open, which explains the smell and the constant sound of flowing water. There are a lot of pets, mostly dogs and cats. In between the houses there are free lots with abandoned chicken “stables” and some ruins of buildings. Palm and banana trees in between. I discovered this only a couple of days back when I found a shortcut through the village to Uni. Nobody can drive inside, that’s why the reference to the “main” road, which is the only road.
Well, anyway, the big supermarkets are in the malls which can be found along every MTR station. These cater for the HK middle class- they look like Kämp, no context, free of time, and have a bit higher prices, but are still cheap for my feeling of “expensive”. I found some good food there- cheese and milk, which made my day.
The evening went in surfing on the net, writing, enjoying the evening breeze and the wind rattling the leaves of the unidentified tree outside our living room window. Going through my previous posts I realized that it is more becoming a listing of whatever happened that day- I attribute this to tiredness and partly laziness, again due to the exhaustion of my brain.* I hate lists!* But I don’t want it to be that way- only recollecting, but not commenting – or only indirectly, between the lines. Any type of writing should have a more interactive and spontaneous character. But maybe there are things I can’t even change when writing, the way I am. I guess. Becoming again the mother figure? (don’t tell me I was not warned cause I was)
Now I start thinking too much. It’s 2 a.m. Should go to bed. Does this post make any sense? No, had too much red wine.
Lessons learned: Koreans are 1 when born, i.e. you have to deduct one year from their given age to match it with our system of counting (is this a joke? At least this is what the Korean exchange students say). People in Wisconsin speak cow as their second language (Aaron from Madison). The most lucrative job currently is to become a vet for camels in Saudi- Arabia (Antonio from Georgia). Everyone has a shit story (Julie from Montréal). You’re soooo lucky! (Jerry from Hong Kong).
The holidays have ended and life is back to normal, or at least by Hong Kong standards I assume. Classes started today and I came to Uni and was taken completely by surprise by the masses of people walking through the halls and corridors. Of course it is natural- it is a University- but I didn’t have time to think about how it would be with all the students inside. It was like a second sensation of being dropped into Mongkok- finding a place that was empty for the past two weeks suddenly filled with life and people- a complete transformation- and gone was the feeling of security and familiarity in this huge and unknown place amassed piece by piece and not completely effortless during the time here. Squeezing into an elevator and surrounded by Cantonese words, which are a complete mystery still, and conversation (?), laughter, jokes, which I am not part of. Spotting out every non-Asian looking by hair color from the masses. Seeking hold, but lost -again. Have to get used to it. I know.
But it is not easy, especially since I try to confront myself directly, with everything, constantly, which is probably also not the right way to do it all the time. Maybe I see in myself first signs of resignation and rejection of all that is here; just because it gets to be a bit too much to still be manageable. Example: I had dim sum (don’t know if that is the right spelling) today for lunch- it is a Chinese dish eaten as lunch/breakfast and served in round bamboo frames with nets, where the steam when it still sits on the counter can go through to keep it warm/ripen it (anyone who knows better please correct me). The dish can be salty or sweet, usually including some meat or seafood inside a rice dough/ball or cream/bread-like sour cream. And only now, when trying it the second time, I started to wonder what exactly was inside the dough which made the whole thing taste awful. The fact that I asked he student next to me what he was getting; the question answered by “chicken feet” which in turn looked much like my dough-rolls, might have contributed to that feeling of being sick.
And the cultural shock does not end with the food but is only the best way to exemplify it. Concretizise. Another slight disappointment was the clash with further bureaucracy of the school admin. I have so far only undergrad courses registered, since this is what the exchange agreement only extends to. The first and only lecture so far was the intro to “Fixed Income Securities” – a good visiting lecturer, as confused (and jet lagged) as me, from the U.S., and a class consisting of mainly 18-year-olds who could not stop talking. Annoying, de-motivating (but am not sure what annoyed me more, the talk or fact that it was all Cantonese or just the boring content- almost as basic as the question: does anyone know what a swap is?; wow I must sound like an arrogant bitch right now). The girls are dressed like little puppets or then in black business suits – and someone tell me Kauppis has clichés! I thought smart people would not look like idiots. I hope the sarcasm shines through.
Well, no postgrad (that’s what they call the Master’s here) courses for me- don’t want to be in school for class on Saturdays- am not that eager! It would furthermore require our coordinator to ask for a “favor” which here is a big thing. Why can’t I just be classified as a M.Sc.? I know I know, I should be open minded and not too prejudiced- the courses are as much as one should believe rumors- very difficult and grades are given along “curves” meaning –since all Asians study real hard and 24/7- the requirement for a “B” will be around 90% or higher. Crazy (have I written about this already?). I just wanna pass. And I should be humble and not set too high expectations for myself or any other exchange students around me. Avoid the embarrassment factor…
Am now sitting here in front of my laptop eating my favorite Tim Tams introduced to me by an Australian friend and drinking (one of my) favorite (red) wine (s) which I discovered today –even being quite cheap- in a local supermarket. And with local supermarket you might imagine a small kiosk or convenience store –we have these too in Tai Po Tsai where we live along the main road. They sell fishballs grilled on the street, and other small things, smell like smoke and noodles and have benches in front where you can see the same old men (and sometimes one weird guy from Britain) drinking beer every night, eating and chatting. One can meet amazingly weird people here (but in a good sense weird). There is only one road through the village and all the houses are located along this road with small lanes full of pots with vegetables, flowers, with washing machines, barbecues, chairs, toys etc. between these buildings. All canalization or at least some of the drainage pipes are open, which explains the smell and the constant sound of flowing water. There are a lot of pets, mostly dogs and cats. In between the houses there are free lots with abandoned chicken “stables” and some ruins of buildings. Palm and banana trees in between. I discovered this only a couple of days back when I found a shortcut through the village to Uni. Nobody can drive inside, that’s why the reference to the “main” road, which is the only road.
Well, anyway, the big supermarkets are in the malls which can be found along every MTR station. These cater for the HK middle class- they look like Kämp, no context, free of time, and have a bit higher prices, but are still cheap for my feeling of “expensive”. I found some good food there- cheese and milk, which made my day.
The evening went in surfing on the net, writing, enjoying the evening breeze and the wind rattling the leaves of the unidentified tree outside our living room window. Going through my previous posts I realized that it is more becoming a listing of whatever happened that day- I attribute this to tiredness and partly laziness, again due to the exhaustion of my brain.* I hate lists!* But I don’t want it to be that way- only recollecting, but not commenting – or only indirectly, between the lines. Any type of writing should have a more interactive and spontaneous character. But maybe there are things I can’t even change when writing, the way I am. I guess. Becoming again the mother figure? (don’t tell me I was not warned cause I was)
Now I start thinking too much. It’s 2 a.m. Should go to bed. Does this post make any sense? No, had too much red wine.
Lessons learned: Koreans are 1 when born, i.e. you have to deduct one year from their given age to match it with our system of counting (is this a joke? At least this is what the Korean exchange students say). People in Wisconsin speak cow as their second language (Aaron from Madison). The most lucrative job currently is to become a vet for camels in Saudi- Arabia (Antonio from Georgia). Everyone has a shit story (Julie from Montréal). You’re soooo lucky! (Jerry from Hong Kong).
posted by Crazy Night Rider at 5:26 PM
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