Happy Valentine's Day

Last week was interesting. The HKUST chapter of AIESEC hosted a happy hour at the Uni-bar on campus last Wednesday. They originally advertised it at orientation as a free welcoming event with two free cocktails for everyone in attendance. Unfortunately, when we showed up, they downgraded to one. I guess after the first two weeks they remembered that international students drink more than locals. (Imagined converstion-- "Ohhh... No two drinks. No good idea.") I was feeling a bit anti-social that night, so I sat around and talked to people I knew rather than saying hello to more unfamiliar faces. Jen and I decided to split dinner (best idea of the evening). In the middle of ordering dinner I was challenged to another game of darts. The previous week I played two rounds with three other people and won BOTH of them. Beginners luck, maybe. But now I have a reputation to defend. Anyway, I played a round with two of the same guys and a new addition-- the one engineering student from Texas A&M, Jared. He's big, tall and very College Station. He won by a landslide. I came in 2nd. I left Uni-bar not too long after that. Let the rivalry continue! PS: I think UT men's basketball is playing A&M tonight.

The next day was Valetine's Day-- not a very celebrated holiday in Hong Kong. A few of the guys in our hall did make a point to say "Happy Valentine's" when they saw me in the hall. As Jen and I like to say, "We're well taken care of." If I haven't mentioned before, there are very few exchange students in Hall III. Therefore, the local students, particularly the Hall III society officers, all know our names, faces, room numbers, etc. They're refreshingly nice to us. During floor meetings, someone will usually take the time to translate too-- a big help.

Anyway, some guy at UST got connected with a club called Avenue in Lan Kwai Fong (LKF for short. Like a dirtier version of 6th street). Despite the fact that there was a big group in the Philippines for the weekend, most everyone that went out on Valetines went to Avenue because of all the promoting this guy did. When Jen and I got there it was DEAD. The reserved lounge areas were empty, a few people were at the bar and a few more awkward partygoers were on the dance floor trying to get it started. It eventually picked up and we stayed there until 2:30 or so. The club was ok, but it was FULL of smoke. It took me a second to realize that the smoke filling the air was a mix of different cigarettes. At one point I was dancing and the "Valentine's Couple" next to me was passing a joint back and forth and blowing the smoke seductively in each others faces. A turn on? I'm going to say no.

The DJ played a decent mix of new hip-hop music which made for entertaining dancing (especially for those who were high). The only bad part was that he played quite a few songs more than once. Funny story-- after that, I went up to the DJ and requested any "older" rap like Notorious B.I.G. He first pretended not to hear me over the loud music. Then he just shook his head. I said, "What? You don't have any?" He responded, "None of that." Whatev. A good reason to have your own dance parties, right Kristin?!

I woke up the next morning and took a shower to wash the smoke smell out of my hair.

Happy Valentine's Day to me! At least I got to avoid chocolates and candy hearts. Then again, I was in an "interesting" club without Steven. Blah. He had to work on Valentine's, so I don't think he celebrated much either.