Last of the New Years Adventures

Look! My life has become a 3-parter! Isn't it exciting? There is just so much to tell yet so little time to type it all. I'm a little hopeful that things will calm down now that New Years is over and classes will be starting back up tomorrow. All the Lingnan students should be coming back tonight or tomorrow. Its a little erie with no one here.

Monday was spent at Agnes' house with another large group of exchange students. I think that there were about 9 of us. We were scheduled to leave at 1pm, but I thought that it was a little later so when Megan called me at 12:45 I was a little surprised. I put on clothes and ran down as quick as I could to meet everyone. So I was a little ticked when I got down to the plaza there was no one there. I was 5 minutes lates, but the group had left without me. Now you have to understand that before we have waited for people who have been 25 minutes late, but they couldn't even wait 5 minutes for me. I was more than a little ticked. Luckily for me, Agnes came back and walked with me down to her neighborhood. She lives in this cute little complex of 3 story apartments aorund little courtyards. Most of her family lives in this neighborhood, so I think that its pretty nice. Her whole family is incredibly nice and really funny. 2 of her uncles spoke great English and were having a great time joking around with us. And at her uncle's house I got to play with their pet Chow Chow, whose name is Bae-bae, which means Teddy Bear in Cantonese. Agnes' cousin was having a great time bringing out all the family pets and passing them around. They had a dog, 2 cats, and a bird. We sat down to a huge meal with dumplings, and all sorts of other food that I can't name. Of course, it was delicious. I took a before and after photo so you can see what we did to this food. Everywhere we go we manage to eat everything, which is a big compliment to the cook. I loved the fried rice cake/pudding thing, espcially the red one. I don't know whats in it, and I don't care. Its just yummy. So after all the exchange students manage to eat everything, we were taken around the complex to all the relative's house. One of Agnes' cousins played a great Mozart peice on the piano for us and then Julie and Sean played Hear'n'Soul for them. As we went from house to house, we got lai see pockets from all the married relatives and Agnes' grandmother. Her grandmother is really cute too, and apparently the best mah jonng player in the family. So of course we brought out the mah jonng sets. We had 3 tables going. This game is really addictive. We played for about 4 hours straight, just sitting in the courtyard with Agnes and her family. None of us are really very good when compared to her family though. I was very glad that we weren't playing for money. We then got another huge spread for dinner. Now I wish I had gotten a picture of that too. I feel like I eat so much more here, but I have to, its soooooooooooooooo good. I'm going to start collecting recipes so I can cook this stuff when I go home. At the end of the meal, Agnes' dad brought out his traditional tea set and made use all some really fancy tea. I've only had it once before with Jason, and its wonderful. I'm not sure what the name is but I think that it tastes a little bit like honeysuckle flowers. Agnes told me that they only have this kind of tea on big family occasions like New Years. And boy was it good. I might have to get some of that tea before I leave. Her family is really nice, as all the families have been. I was sitting next to her grandmother, and she and I just smiled at each other because we couldn't understand each other. At one point she said something to me, but I have no idea what it was. But she looked happy so I'm guessing that it was something good. We were at Agnes' place until about 9pm that night. Agnes and her uncle walked us back to school to make sure that we got home ok, and then we all went to sleep.

That was my last family dinner and I'm a little sad that its over. It was really nice to be in a family environment with home-cooked food. It was a really nice change of pace, and I really felt like I was meeting more people this way, and having more of the experiences I wanted to have. Shirley told me that I could always come back to her house on the weekends and I am sure that I will take her up on that offer. I don't want to spend all my time with the exchange students. I really enjoyed spending time with the locals and I have been making friends with them too. My roommate Terrance really wants to take me out and show me a good time, so there is that to look forward to. Helen is another local girl that I have made friends with and she is super sweet. We are planning on going shopping together sometime this week. And I have also found another girl who loves Bollywood films as much as I do, so we are going to watch them together.


After New Years, my week has slowed down a little. I have mostly spent my time exploring Tuen Mun and the area around school. I took some photos around Lingnan so everyone can get a glimpse of what it looks like. This campus is really beautiful and expansive for such the small space that they have. Our gym was built with money donated by Jackie Chan and is named after him. I got a great picture of one of the cats we have running around sleeping in a basket of a bicycle. We also went to an art exhibit at the University of Hong Kong on the snuff bottles of the later dynasties of China. I couldn't take any pictures though. There was also a really cool modern art disply that you had to lay down on the floor for, and it was incredible. We had to hike up this huge hill in Central and by the time we reached the top we were all sweating and panting. It was an amazing view though. Megan hiked all the way up in heels. What a trooper! Other than that I have managed to get some homework done, finished knitting my roommate a scarf, lost my phone, and then got my phone back.

Oh, I almost forgot the Dragon and Lion Dances! Just for New Years they have these part-dance, part-martial arts teams who are usually hired by businesses and large corporations to come and perform. It is suppose to show the wealth of the business and also bring good luck in the coming year. The lions consist of 2-men teams, with a strong powerful guy in the back, and a tiny energetic guy in the front. The jump from pole to pole with the front guy being lifted up on the other guys shoulder, or just in the air. Its really incredible to see. The dragon consists of a huge line of guys as the body and they chase around a ball that is suppose to be symbolic of lettuce. (Because dragons like lettuce? I have no idea) We got to see 2 teams in one day, it was fantastic. After the show, the lions and drummers go to each store, and "eat" the lettuce that is hanging from the ceiling. They run around the store, and then spit out the lettuce while keeping the lai see packet inside. I think that it is suppose to spread good luck around the business for the coming year or something like that. One of the guys we knew from Lingnan was a part of one of the teams so we got to take a photo with him. And when we left we all waved a big goodbye to him. He is going to look like a big man now to all of his friends because a crowd of Western girls waved to him ;)


That is everything up to date now. Classes resume tomorrow and my roommate comes back. Currently I'm watching Dr. Zhivago in Cantonese with English subtitles, which throws things off a little. They call it "Till the End of the Time: Dr. Zhivago" Weird.

Updated List of Places I've Been:

• Mongkok
• Temple Street Night Market
• Tin Shui Wai
• Harbor City
• Tsim Sha Tsui
• Heng Fa Chuen
• Lantau Island
• Sham Shui Po
• Central
• Wan Chai
• Hong Kong Uni.
• Kowloon

Oh, and answers to Wende's questions:

There are mailboxes in the hostels, so thats where I get me letters as soon as people send them to me.

I have to get my packages from the Wong Building which is right around the corner

My MSN screen name is badpixy@hotmail.com, for all those who don't have it, and my AIM screen name is badpixy798.

I have a cell phone, but don't call it unless you really want to because it will cost a fortune. IM me and I'll give it to you just because I don't want my phone number on the internet.

I miss everyone so much and I'm sending you all big hugs!

More New Year's Adventures

So in my last post, I left off on what happened Saturday. That Saturday, the last day of the year of the Rooster, Zuza, another exchange student from Canada and I arranged to have dinner at Cherry's house. Cherry is one of the international buddies who lives on the floor below me. Her apartment, or flat as the call them here, (I love the traces of British influence left like that), is in Tin Shui Wai which is about a half hour trip from school. I meet Cherry at around 3ish and we rode the metro and then the Light Rail to her house. Dinner wasn't until 7:30pm, so I had plenty of time to kill with Cherry. She took me around her area, showed me this beautiful park, and then we were accosted by some guys who wanted us to join there cult. She also showed me every shopping center in the area. The main hobby here is shopping but I can't imagine just spending all my free time like that. And I thought Americans were consumers! There were 5 malls for an area the size of my hometown. It just blew my mind. We did a lot of walking that day too. After walking all around Tin Shui Wai, we arranged to meet up with Zuza. Of course it was her first time on the Light Rail, so it goes without saying she got off at the wrong stop. Thank god I got this phone, otherwise we would never of found her. Cherry and I had to jump back on the tram and ride 2 more stops and then I had to stick my head out the doors and yell "Zuza! Get on the train!" We then took a half hour train ride back in a circle to get back to where we needed to be. We made to Cherry's house on time though. She lives in a apartment building on the 12th floor and she has a great view too. Its amazing because people back home would pay a premium for this kind of view, but everyone here has a great one, no matter where you go. We had dinner with her mother, father, and her brother Pelky. Pelky spoke some English, but Cherry had to translate everything that her parents said. I took a picture of the food just to show how much was made for us. During the New Year, it is good luck to have even number of dishes, so her mother made 8. The chicken was all together, even with the head, because the whole chicken together is a wish/luck for the whole family to stay together forever. And let me say this, Cherry's mother is one damn fine cook. I feel like I gained weight just from that one meal. I tried 2 different kinds of fish, sea cucumber, (I think), and lotus root. I really liked one of the types of fish she made, baked all light and fluffy. I know I've said this before, but I will say it again- I love love love the food here! After dinner Cherry showed us around her home and we took pictures with her family. She explained all the alters in her house, (for ancestor worship), and we spent a little time with her family. Around 9ish we left her house to head over to the Yuen Long New Year's Fair. There are 20 fairs like this in all of Hong Kong, just for the New Year and these things are crazy. It is some of the biggest crowds that I have ever seen in my whole life. It was so packed that we couldn't even see over the crowd to the seller booths. There was also a band on one of the patios of an apartment building overlooking the market. Vira- you'll get a kick out of this- they played "Wig in a Box" from Hedwig! It was wonderful. I waved at them and the lead singer blew me a kiss. Cherry also was translating what people around us were saying. Mostly it consisted of comments like "I've never seen any westerners come here before" It made me feel cool, just a little bit. I also bought some snapdragons for my room. They were this beautiful shade of deep purple that I have never seen before. Sadly enough, they have died by now and I forgot to take a picture. Oh well, next time. We spent about 4 hours in the Fair before Zuza and I decided to call it a night. By the time I got back to my room, I had done so much walking that day that I wore holes in the pair of socks that I was wearing. (Send socks!)

Sunday, the first day of the Year of the Dog, was the day of the big parade. It gave me a chance to indulge my secret love of parades. (But don't tell anyone) And I also love marching bands and there were a couple of them in this parade. They have it every year just for the New Year. Cathay Pacific Airlines sponsered it this year. A large group of exchange students, myself included decided to head on down to Central to line up and see it. The parade started around 8:30pm and lasted until 10ish. There was every kind of performing group in this parade. My favorite was the Korean drummers with the twirling ribbon hats. They had to drum while spinning their heads to keep the ribbon flowing. And they also had Japanese laturn acrobats. These guys were carrying huge towers of giant candle lit laturns and when they would stop, they would balance them on their forehead, hips, shoulder, etc. It was amazing. This was one of the coolest parades that I have ever seen. And then the American representation came through and it was the Steelers cheerleaders. Could we not think of anything better to represent us? I hung my head in shame for that. I think that I really want to visit Korea now. I've added it to the list of places I want to go in my lifetime. It was really a fantastic parade. They really go all out for New Years here.

Sunday I spent with Shirley and her family on Hong Kong Island. Going to Shirley's apartment is about an hour trip from school in Heun Fa Chuen. She met me at the metro stop, and then we walked over to her apartment. Talk about swanky! Shirley lives in the beautiful 8-building complex right on the water. There is a resort-style pool and very nice facilities. It has doormen and a spa inside. I have never been in a apartment building that fancy. I might have to live with Shirley, and she invited me to come on weekends when I don't have anything else to do. Its a shame because I really could get used to living like that. She lives on the 6th of her building and it is a beautiful apartment. Everyone here has a great view no matter where you live. I met her mother, father, and younger sister Vicki. The first thing Shirley's mom did was cook something for me. That keeps happening to every house that I go to, they first cook for the guests before anything. I had a sweet red rice pudding/cake thing with a fried egg. I need to get some recipies before I leave so I can make this food when I get home. We had sometime to kill, so they decided to teach me how to play Mah Jonng, which I'm not very good at. Its incredibly addicting though. I won $2HK, which is less than a penny for me. After a couple of rounds, we took a bus to get to Shirley's uncles apartment for dinner and fireworks. We took a public bus there, and we just kept going up and up into the mountains of Hong Kong Island until we reached the top. This was the area where real houses are, not apartments, but they cost about 9 million HK to live there. When we showed up at Shirley's uncle's place, there were about 20 of her relatives there and they were pretty happy to see me! All the married couples gave me lai see money too. We played Uno witht the kids and some of her younger cousins taught me how to play Big 2, which is a pretty fun game. Her cousins were really cute and friendly to me. I managed to beat them a couple of times before dinner. They put out a huge meal for dinner. There were two large crockpots filled with all sorts of meat and seafood arranged. The other pot was all vegetarian. The food was piled about 6 inches high! Then they brought out several more dishes and everyone chowed down. I had some chicked and vegetables, and something that I thought was pork. I tired abalone, but I don't like it that much. I had about 3 plates of food, it was that good. When I asked Shirley's aunt what dish I was eating she told me that I was eating clams and started serving more onto my plate. I was so full of food that I had to stop her. They kept trying to fill me up with food, but I just couldn't eat anymore! We returned to our card games until it was time for the fireworks. It was rumored that the Hong Kong government spent about 2 million dollars on the fireworks and after seeing them I wouldn't be surprised if they had spent more. This was simply the biggest longest fireworks show that I have ever seen. I think that I got some really fantastic photos so you'll have to check them out and let me know what you think. It lasted for about 20 minutes, which I think is a little long for fireworks. When it was over, the smoke from the fireworks was so intense we had a hard time seeing the Kwoloon side of Hong Kong. After that, it was family portrait time. I stood off to the side at first, but then the family pulled me in and told me to consider myself as part of the family. That really meant a lot to me and I almost teared up when they said that. I got a nice picture with Shirley, her sister, and her mother. It was such a nice gesture of them to include me. I was really flattered. New Year here has been incredibly wonderful to me.

Happy Lunar New Year Everyone!

I know that I haven't updated in a couple of days, and I feel a little bad about that. When I called my mom today she said that people have been asking her why I haven't, and its simply because I've been so busy that I haven't had the time to sit down and organize all my thoughts. I've managed to upload the pictures I've taken, and I am also working on organizing them. Life is fast-paced here and if you slow down for one second, you will be left behind. I will try to be a little bit better about updating from now on. Sorry everyone!

It is now the year of the dog, (which is good for Bertie and Tucker), and it looks like it is going to be a pretty good year. First of all, let me start of by saying that Chinese New Year is now my new favorite holiday. You get a week off from school/work to celebrate, spend tons of time with family, and eat tons of good food. All the married couples and older people also give young single people lai see, which is the red paper pocket with money inside. There is also a parade, and the fireworks that the Hong Kong government spent 2 million dollars on. I also went to a few local students homes for dinner, and that was also a wonderful experience.

After looking at where I left off, I should talk about the dinner I had the night I went to Victoria Harbor. Megan and I went out with her rommate Jess, Karen, and Phoebe. Phoebe is leaving for the states soon, so she wanted to take a lot of pictures of Hong Kong to show to prove where she lives. We decided that we had to be real touristy that night and go see the ligh show in the harbor. Every night at 8pm, along the famous Hong Kong skyline, there is a light and laser show put on by all the big companies who own the buildings. I got some great shots of the skyline and with us girls infront of it. The show lasted about 20 minutes, and it was pretty cool. It was a little bit like watching electronic fireworks. The I.M. Pei building always looks fascinating to me. (Its the triangular building with white lights) Its holds one of the biggest banks in all of Hong Kong. So after the light show, we made our way over to the shopping center where we took some other really cute photos with the New Years decorations. Jess and Karen took us to a Shanghainese restaurant called the Jade Crystal Garden. To date, it is the best meal I have had here. I can't even think about it without getting hungry. Soup dumplings are now my favorite food. I can't wait to go back there! I tried this peanut noodle dish that was so spicy I started crying. Megan told me that I was still pink in the face about an hour after dinner. After dinner we walked around Harbor City for awhile, mostly window shopping (Because none of us can afford Louis Vuitton). It was a good night.

Friday morning was my breakfast with the president of Lingnan, and my last class of the week. I was a little embarassed because breakfast was scheduled for 8-9am, and I had to leave halfway through for my 8:30am class. The president of Lingnan is quite famous in Hong Kong as an economist. All the students I have talked to have nothing but nice things to say about him. He is retiring next year though. The president is a very funny and knowledgable man. I hope that I will get another chance to have a full meal with him. So because of my early breakfast with the president, I had to go to my Methodologies in Cultural Research all decked out in my suit and heels. And I thought I got weird looks for just being an American. Now I was a dressed up American at 8:30 in the morning. The good news is that people at least sat next to me in this class. I just hate having class that early. My professor has a weird accent too, and I have yet to place it. Would it be wrong to ask him where he is from? Once class was let out, I just had to go back to my room and catch a quick nap. Terrance had a afternoon class, and as soon as she got done with class she took me out to Mongkok where she lives. I was introduced to her mother, who runs a booth in the ladies market, and the neighborhood that she lives in. Terrance and I then went and got a light dinner at a spicy noodle place. Apparently I hadn't learned my lesson with spicy foods, because I thought it would be a good idea to have more. In this restaurant, there are 4 levels of spiciness that you can order and I was brave enough to try level 2. I immediatly started crying, turning pink, and my nose was running. Terrance got a good laugh out of it as I was coughing for 5 minutes straight. I took the soup home with me but I have yet been brave enough to try it again. After our short dinner, Terrance took me to the Flower Market in Mongkok, which I have been dying to go to. You could smell the flowers from 3 blocks away. I love being in the flower markets, being surrounded by fresh flowers everywhere. Terrance also took me to one of the New Year Fair's that has a huge market for students. A lot of university students get booths and sell fun products, like the pillow set that looks like mah jhong tiles that Terrance is selling. I found some yarn and knitting needles there that I really love. We walked around the market and then Terrance showed me home. Sadly, she had to go back to work until 3am that morning.

I just have to take a second and talk about how wonderful my roommate is. Terrance has been so kind and welcoming to me. She hasn't been around as much as she would have liked to be, and she told me how bad she felt about that. I was really flattered that she has already taken me to meet her mother. Terrance also was telling me how much she wants to take me around and show me all her favorite spots in Hong Kong. I'm knitting her a scarf right now to show her how fabulous she is. I think that living with her is going to work out wonderfully.

As of right now, it is about 3am. I want to continue on and talk about my New Year's experiences, but I need to get some sleep. I don't have any plans for tomorrow, so I might have a little more time to update again. Something will popup though, I know it.

Sushi fun and more classes!

Last night was another milestone in my food experineces in Hong Kong. Shirley took me out for sushi and I had salmon sushi and a cucumber salad with these bright orange fish eggs. I really like the salad thing we got. I took pictures of what we ate just so I can prove what I ate. Then we had this amazing fruit dessert with all kinds of fruit. All I could identify was coconut, banana, papaya, watermelon, and lychee. Other than that I have no idea what I ate, but it was good. I find that if I don't let people tell me what I eat, I enjoy things more. I can't even begin to describe how good the food is here. Its just fantastic and insanly cheap.

Today my classes went well. I was the only exchange student in my Statistics class, and some of the other students didn't seem to be happy to see me. I guess its because they don't want to use English. My professor was messing with me a little too, because everytime he would ask a rhetorical question he would turn and zero in on me. I was given an intense stare down at least 3 times in that class alone today. My other class of the day was Film and Cinema Studies. Its going to be such a fun class. The professor is hilarious! I'm in the class with another exchange student, Jessica, and we were giggling through the whole class today. He asked us to raise our hands if we didn't speak Mandarin and when I did he just laughed at me and said "well, of course you don't" and laughed at me. (They speak Cantonese here, and some students also speak Mandarin, so they have to explain everything in 3 languages sometimes) So that was my embarassing moment for the day. Its was fun though.

Tonight I am going out to dinner with Megan, her roommater Jess, and Karen. I am trying to convince my roommate Terrance to come with us, because I never see her or get to spend time with her. She is a 3rd year student here and she is incredibly busy. Everyone seems to be busy during the New Year. Speaking of, I've been invited to 2 of the International Buddies houses for dinner and Shirley is also going to take me to her relative's house to see the fireworks! There are going to be so many awesome pictures to come, I assure you!

First day of classes

My first day of classes is finally here! I only had one class which was Survey of Indian History. I was the first person there, and there turned out only to be about 10 people in my whole class. At first no one would sit next to me, and it hurt my feelings. Then Sunny, one of the Korean exchange students came in and sat next to me so I wasn't alone. It was a little surreal because I felt like none of the other students would really even look at me. The professor seemed happy to see me though. I guess he must be a little tired of teaching in Cantonese. The class seems to be pretty easy so far. That was my only class of the day so I got to goof off for the rest of the day. Once Megan was done with classes, her roommate Jess took us out downtown so that Megan could do some shopping and we also did some sight-seeing. We went down to Victoria Harbor, where the famous skyline is and watched the light show that they put on every night. We also met up with some of Jess' friends and I have some great pictures of us infront of the skyline. Later after the show, we all went to the Jade Garden restaurant for some Shanghai-style food. It was one of the best meals I've had in my whole life. I really liked the food there. One of the dishes was so spicy that my face stayed pink for about an hour after dinner. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love love love the food here. I really want to get some good recipies to take with me when I come home.

Today was my second day of class, and once again, I only had one class at 3pm so I definatly slept in. The class I had today was Cultural and Historical Writing. There are only 3 people, including me, in this class. I really hope that the University doesn't cancel it because not only do I need the requirements for my major, the class looks like a lot of fun. All my professor wants to do is watch a bunch of movies and talk about them. Tomorrow is going to be a bit busier because I have two classes, Statistics and Film/Cinema Studies. The classes here are pretty much the same as classes back home with an addition called tutorials. Tutorials are when you meet in small groups during the week to discuss and go over the material of the previous week. They are also manditory. 3 out of my 5 classes have tutorials, and after the Chinese New Year I will be a lot busier. Helen is coming to see me tonight, and then I am going to go pay a visit to Shirley, one of the exchange students who was at St. Mary's last semester. My roommate hasn't been back for about 3 days, but I think that its just because she is really busy with New Years.

Oh and something weird thats been happening- everywhere I go on campus people have been stopping and saying "Hi Becca" to me even though I have no idea who they are and how they know my name. Is there like a secret fan club for me on campus or something? Its both cool and weird at the same time. And since I've put my address up, I am hoping for lots of love to come in the mail. (Hint: I could really kill for hot chocolate and jelly beans) And I will also be sending out lots of love too, as soon as I find the post office.

Mailing address

Alright people here it is, my mailing address for Hong Kong

Room 702B, Hall E
Lingnan University
Tuen Mun
New Territories
Hong Kong

I expect lots of love letters and such. Jelly beans would be nice too ;)

So Much to Share

I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a couple of days, but I've been off having adventures here, some a little more crazier than the others. Would you believe me if I told you that I've already had 3 run-ins with Security/Police? The first night one of the other girls tripped and fell off a curb. She cute her head and the Police wanted to call an ambulance and I spent a good deal of time convincing them not too. She's perfectly fine, with just a little bruising. The next time I had an encounter was when we came back late, and Security followed us back to our hostels. Then the next day I tried to go down the outside stairwell, but apparently you can't do that and no one thought to tell me. So I was locked out, and trying to get back in on every floor. (Keep in mind that I live on the 7th floor, and that the 1st floor is not the ground floor) I got down to the ground floor, and still couldn't get out. Then when I called one of the other girls who lives in my building, she told me that she was at the beach, and that I should just run out the emergency exit. Just as I was about to do that, security slams the door open and starts yelling at me in Chinese, demanding to see my passport and acceptance letter. I was ready to cry because the one guy wouldn't stop yelling at me. Once he said all he wanted to say, the other guard lead me inside and took my name down, so now I'm on a list somewhere.


But I have been having some pretty awesome times outside of locking myself out of places. A huge group of Lingnan students took a bunch of us exchange students out to a hot pot dinner which is where you put whatever you want in this boiling water in the middle of the table and everyone eats, a little bit like fondue. We took a lot of pictures, and I made a huge group of friends. I even tried octopus ball stuffed with pork and it was damn good- this coming from the girl who never eats seafood. It was such a fun night.

We've also been taken out in smaller groups by the International Buddies who are Lingnan students who volunteer to look after/help exchange students. Our guides, Sofia and Bobo took us down to the ladies market in Mongkok and Avenue of Stars where the statue of Bruce Lee is. I took plenty of pictures of Bruce Lee too, because, lets just face it, he is the man. Bobo and Sofia, my guides, even helped me to pick out a cheap cell phone. I made my first attempt at bargaining on the street and I did pretty well. Granted that it was just for an alarm clock, but I am still pretty proud of myself.

The other day Megan and I spent all day on Lantau Island, and I am in love with the place. Lantau is the island where the world's largest outdoor bronze Buddha is. And let me tell you, it is freaking huge! First you have to walk up all these steps, because everything in Hong Kong is on the side of a mountain, and then Buddha just towers over you. On the platform there are other smaller statues that are just as beautiful. We picked a beautiful day to go because it was slightly misty, and since its all on the top of a mountain, the clouds come rolling in and its just so lovely, quiet, and still. You get the feeling that you are the only person in the world. The Po Lin Monastary is on the mountain as well, so we headed over there for lunch and also more picture-taking. I acidently walked into a courtyard that I shouldn't of, and some monks looked very surprised to see me. They just smiled and pointed me in the right direction. I also took some pictures of the gold Buddhas inside the temple, and then I saw the sign about no picture-taking. So as of now, I am probably going to Buddha-hell for that one. There were flowers everywhere, and incense burning in big metal containers.

After the monastary, we took a short walk up a side of another mountain to the Wisedom Trail. The Wisedom Trail is sutras carved on giant logs and erected in the symbol for infinity. The logs that they are carved on are so big that I can't even get my arms around one side. We walked around it and up to the very top of the mountian it sits on. The clouds kept rolling in and the path below us was getting hard to see through the clouds. It was just amazing. We managed to spend all day on the island and I took about 135 photos. (All of the good ones are online) Then it was back on one of the craziest bus rides I've ever been on, and another hour back to school.

Yesterday was spent at Ocean Park with Megan, Ashley, Jessica, Christine, and our guides Carol and Pamela. Ocean Park is a combination zoo, aquarium, and amusment park. Its also the place in Hong Kong where the only pandas are. They only have 2 pandas in Ocean Park, and I took lots of photos of them both. They have some crazy rollar coasters there as well. My favorite was the one that drops you from about 10 stories and then bounces you a couple of times. We also saw the dolphin show and the bird show. Ocean Park has a great aquarium, and I got plenty of pictures there too. While we were in the aqaurium a sea turtle sawm up and bit one of the sting rays. Thats one mean sea turtle! We also had to take a tram car across a mountain to get to the other side of the park. It had such a gorgeous veiw. Almost everywhere in Hong Kong has a great view of something whether it be mountians or water or both. Its fabulous. On the other side of the park are the pandas and some other attractions. Once again, we managed to spend all day there. Those are my big adventures so far.

Other places I have been:

• Mongkok
• Ladies Market
• Night Market
• Yuen Long
• Central/ Lan Kwai Fong

All I did today was head into Mongkok to do a little shopping and just to get out. The weather kinda sucks today so I really haven't felt like going out. So thats the updates for all my adventures so far. I have dinner at a professors house tomorrow night and I am going to have breakfast with the President of Lingnan this month as well. Apparently in Hong Kong he is a very famous economist. Not my cup of tea, but I am really interested in meeting him and possibly getting some New Year money out of him. Chinese New Year is going to be crazy! I am going to have so many more pictures to share. I miss everyone but I'm not getting too homesick right now. Hong Kong is just amazing right now.