Done. Period.

I just finished both of my Humanities finals today, thank you very much. When I turned in my first exam, Professor Wang just said, "Thank you." When I handed in my second exam, Professor Chung said, "Have a nice trip home." I just responded, "Oh, I will!" Hopefully it didn't come off the wrong way, but it's all I could say.

Done. So done.

Brand Management grades came out today. Check! Time to celebrate a wonderful semester!

Vih-DAY-ohs!

In Tokyo, we stumbled upon this "little" cultural parade. Make sure to take note of how differently the men and women perform the same movements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO07DPxFVkE

The next morning we woke up at 6am to make it to the famous Tokyo fish market.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yttUzvzKotU

The library is overrated

It's hard to study knowing that I'll be sleeping in a REAL bed on Saturday night. The library was crowded even when I got there at 10am. I guess that's to be expected. I can't imagine what the libary will be like when they expand UST, under new Hong Kong legislation, to a 4-year university. More students = less study space. Yikes!

Most of the exchange students are very ready to be done with exams and go home. A few will be traveling into June (some even through July), but those lucky few are either done with their undergraduate careers or not employed at home.

It's Monday, so Kristin is off to Paris! She said her mom was more nervous than she. Knowing Kristin, I'm sure she's going to love her six weeks abroad. It's probably a period that short enough to feel like a long vacation. Four months is another story.

Tonight I think I'll be cooking gyoza and broccoli (if Park'N'Shop isn't OUT of it again). Afterwards I'll try to post pictures and videos from our trip. I'll do anything to stay out of the library.

Hired!

The title says it all. I just accepted an intern position with The Container Store's buying/merchandising department. That means I'll be in Dallas (staying with Brenda and Eileen) for 10 weeks from June 9 to August 15. Hallelujah! I'll have an income again!

It'll be wonderful to be around family that I don't get to see as often-- including Matt, Nichole, Torie and Reid-- but I'll be away from Steven and my friends and roommates that I've been looking forward to seeing since I left in January. I guess 2008 will be the year of Austin-deprivation, but I think this internship is going to be SO worth it.

Japan... A Near Perfect Ending

You would love Japan.

The other day I looked at Jen and said, "Can you believe we started in the Philippines and ended in Japan? Good choice on our part!" Each trip was a little better than the previous one, but that's an understatement when talking about Japan.

We adjusted our travel schedule by cutting out two side-trips to Hakone (outside Tokyo) and Nara (outside Kyoto). Both would have been good trips, but we simply didn't feel like we had seen everything we wanted to see in the big cities. This was probably because we had the absolute best timing! We didn't get there in time to see the cherry blossoms in April, but we caught just about everything else.

In Tokyo, it was sumo season! There are only three big tournaments per year and we got to see one of them. It was also the weekend of the Sanja Matsuri festival in Asakusa, a once-a-year event always held on the third weekend in May. On top of that, we happened to stumble upon a giant parade/gathering/dance party in the streets of Shibuya... and I don't imagine that happens every weekend.

In Kyoto, most of the geisha performances are in April. However, we discovered there was one final series of performances that ran May 1-24. If you look at the calendar, you'll notice that we left Japan on the 23rd. Yeah, I know... lucky.

Between Daniel, Jen and myself, we took about 1,000 pictures. I'll have to find the best ones and post them on this blog. I also think I figured out how to post my albums from Facebook (which you can access even if you're not a member).

A few highlights
TOKYO
1. Arriving in the middle of Shibuya crossing, the biggest and busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. I was so overwhelmed exiting the subway that I just pressed myself against the wall and started laughing.
2. English. Trying to find restaurants with Ego (English) menus. How ironic is it that ego is the Japanese translation for English? Jen was attached to the phrase book, so she was a big help. Oh! And one night we went to a dungeon-themed restaurant complete with hand cuffs, cells and scary dungeon entertainers. They didn't have an English menu, but they had pictures. So we ordered their specialty cocktails (without knowing what was in them) and a small dinner. Daniel ordered what he thought was lasagna. Turns out it was a plate of potatoes... the size of a creme brulee ramekin. Sad, but very very funny.
3. The 6 am fish market. I have a video; it was insane. Tuna fish the size of my old Barbie car and some of the hardest/fastest working fishmongers I've ever seen. I think we nearly died 10 times in pedestrian-cart collisions.
4. The sumo tournament. The men were large and the fans were loyal. The most loyal ones have "ringside" seats and often get crushed when the losing player gets pushed off the mat. No thank you.
5. Shopping. Tokyo is silly and the fashions are exaggerated. Harijuku was great for people-watching, and the department store, Tokyo Hands, was the best for souvenir shopping and photo ops.

KYOTO
1. Our "hostels." We stayed in some of the most unique places all over the city. In Tokyo we spent three nights in bunk-bed style cubby holes with curtains. In Kyoto we upgraded to huge Japanese style ryokans and 200-year-old temples. They're best described in pictures, so I'll be sure to post some.
2. Geishas. We spotted them in Ponto-cho and Gion and did our best to take discreet pictures (sometimes). Geisha paparazzi was the theme for Kyoto. And of course, I mentioned the geisha dances earlier. Daniel was lucky enough to snap some pictures without being caught by the watchful ushers.
3. Temples and shrines. We saw too many to remember. Thankfully we have pictures to remind ourselves how beautiful these places were. Aunt Brenda, you would have loved the gardens and trees.
4. The weather. It sounds cheesy, but we had the absolute best weather all week long. It was mid- to upper-70s during the day and cool at night. Kyoto would be a terrible city to tour in the rain because everything worth doing is outside.
5. First public bath. Since we didn't have time to experience a real onsen (or Japanese hot springs bath), we decided to try out a public bath near our hotel. When I say public bath, you probably envision zen-like spas with mood lighting and herbal aromas. Not here. This was the Japanese version of the brightly lit health club locker room (mirrors included). Needless to say, Jen and I stripped down to nothing with a bunch of locals-- quite a bonding experience. We pretended to know what to do, but the locals picked up on our lack of bath skills and helped along the way. I can't even begin to describe what it felt like to sit nakedly among Japanese women scrubbing their bodies into a lather sitting on plastic stools made for 4-year-olds with brightly colored rinse buckets. It's important to note that you have to be completely clean before getting into a public bath. Hence, all the suds and washing. Better yet, Jen and I walked back to our hostel with our hair in towels and our PJs on.

I can't believe I only have a week left... but then again I can. I've had the opportunity to see so many amazing things and meet some really great people along the way. I think the best part is the near-fearlessness that comes with being able to travel in places I never expected to see. Of course, there are always slip-ups and challenges (walking the wrong direction, catching the wrong train, wanting to throw your guidebook in a puddle, etc), but I've learned not to fight it. Jen taught me the importance of embracing the phrase book (always good to know: Hello/Good Morning. Thank you. Where's the bathroom? Beer, please. May I have the check?).

Looking back, the Japanese people as a whole were incredibly happy and helpful, which made our experience that much more enjoyable. Now it's time to enjoy the last seven days!

I come to Hong Kong to watch American Idol?

Yes, it's true. I've probably watched more American Idol episodes online than I ever would have watched from my house in Austin. But that's yet another side effect of wanting "a piece of home."

I probably wouldn't be watching so much American Idol if I had more school work to do. First, you should understand that it's common at UST to either 1) not have a textbook or 2) pay you friends for a photocopied version of the pages you're supposed to read. This is because textbooks in Hong Kong are "too expensive." They obviously haven't been to the f-ing Co-Op on Guadalupe. In one way, I commend the students here for cheating the system and doing what's collectively more cost efficient. However, professors in turn often don't use textbooks or assign very little reading. The hours I spent at home going through chapter after chapter, I spend here watching online television. PS: I'm a fan of Syesha.

Having fewer daily assignments is much healthier because it means more exercise and more social time. Despite the fact that we didn't have our girls dinner on Tuesday, I'm sure we'll make up for it on Thursday and Friday nights before our departure for Japan-- WHICH we started planning today!

Want to hear a funny story? I had a Brand Management exam today despite the fact that I didn't need to take it. Thanks to the best two-of-three exam policy in that class, I could fail this exam without it hurting my grade. Well, I decided to take a nap before the 6:00 start time. (If your name is Kristin or Steven, you know how this story ends.) Of course, I woke up at 5:45 and yelled, "Shit!" I grabbed my bag and ran out the door. When I got to the academic building I realized I didn't even know what room to go to. Oops. When I finally sat down in my seat and opened the exam booklet, I realized I needed my calculator. Too bad I didn't think to bring one. Oops, again. So I filled in all the multiple choice questions and essays that didn't require calculations. Lucky for the local students, I think I really helped the curve. I just kept laughing and finished the exam 30 minutes early. Dinner was calling!

It's official. That was a TOTAL Steven move. I'm not sure it will happen again.

Speaking of "the boy," Dad if you're reading this email, me back. You better be free for lunch that Tuesday!

Dos mas dias

No one speaks Spanish here, but you probably do! I have an exam tomorrow and no major projects/committments/exams on Thursday. I guess I could have titled this email "Uno Mas Dia" but that would just be rubbing it into the faces of those who have a real hell-week.

Earlier today I "studied" for my Brand Management exam on the balcony overlooking the bay. It was maybe 70 degrees in the shade and the sky was clear. There was just enough breeze to keep me awake and holding onto my papers. Then I had dinner with a few of my favorite people-- Lisa, Frances and Kristin. Did I mention that Kristin ran a half-marathon on the Great Wall a few weeks ago. Yeah, pretty amazing.

Now, it's 11:30pm and Jen is still out doing who-knows-what. She probably just migrated from the library to the computer barn. Meanwhile, I'm in the room watching old episodes of The Office on surfthechannel.com. Stressful, I know. At least I'm learning about business.

I feel like the only way this day could have been better is if I could have finished it in a big bubble bath. Mmm... bubble bath. So civilized.

China in the News

This past semester has been a learning experience in more ways than one. Once again, today proved that lots has happened in Hong Kong and China these first four months.

• Edison Chan sex scandal made huge news in Hong Kong in January.
• Brief flu outbreak in Hong Kong before spring break brought back fears that are still very much alive here-- thanks to the avian flu and SARS.
• Protests in Tibet caused a media frenzy and worry among officials in Beijing.
• The Olympic Torch Relay faced protests in numerous cities, including San Francisco.
• Mr Ma, opposition party candidate (and Harvard grad), won the presidential elections in Taiwan. News was popular here because Mr Ma was also born in Hong Kong.
• Train collision in Southeast China killed 70 people in April-- "one of the deadliest" according to media reports.
• And most recently, a huge earthquake near Chengdu in Sichuan province killed thousands yesterday.

I'm not sure if any of those news stories are uplifting, but then again, I'm not sure if any media reports about China are uplifting. It's hard even in Hong Kong to get a realistic picture of China-- economically, politically, socially, environmentally, etc. The easiest way to learn about China is from the students at UST from the Mainland. Most of their stories are about school, family, friends and culture. If someone asked me to tell them about the US, I likely would talk about the same things.

So I've come to understand China as a place, like the US, that has definite room for improvement. By no means should you "hate China" though.

I'm going to assume that if you think Asians (as a stereotypical whole) are smart and hardworking, then you might wonder why their country is in the state it's in. But then again, if you consider that their government is just as concerned with power and money as ours is, it may not seem like such a contradiction. Take environmental issues for example. The US is just now beginning to take small steps toward environmental protection and sustainability despite the fact that we could have been doing this years ago. And now people get upset with the Chinese for not taking the same measures even though the incentives toward change are not the same.

Look at Wal-Mart. They've recently changed their slogan from "Always Low Prices" to "Save Money. Live Better." to align with their sustainability campaign. Great for Wal-Mart (trust me, I'm happy about this!) but Wal-Mart wouldn't be taking these steps if it wasn't saving them money by cutting costs or making them more money by changing consumer perceptions. It's all about incentives.

As it is set up right now, I think there are certain people in China that are making a small fortune as the system stands today. With environmentalism as an example, until someone or something challenges that power, what's the incentive to change?

So as onlookers is it our job to protest, bad-mouth and boycott? Maybe. But even better, it should be our job to understand the underlying causes for these problems. The only bad thing is that money and power are just the beginning.

China's history should prove that international pressures, when not aligned with internal forces, do little to stimulate healthy change. International pressures just make China mad and more likely to turn inward. Well, at least that's what I learned in class. I'm still trying to get first-hand opinions, but the Mainlanders would rather talk to me about fun stuff... and the Democratic primary.

(Go Barack.)

Pics from the Madre

My mom sent me these pictures from their Mother's Day lunch at Pappadeaux's and their return home. These pictures are proof that some things don't change. Mother's Day is almost always at Pappadeaux's and Snowy always wants to be brushed outside. Anyway, I fell in love with the pictures-- especially the one of Snowy with her camera-ready attitude. Haha!! What is she doing in that last picture??!

Happy Mother's Day!

OK, we'll just say that I have the best women in my life. I know everyone would want to disagree and say their moms/aunts/grandmothers are "better", but we're not going to argue about it. Being on this side of the world makes it a little difficult to give these women a worthwhile 'thank you.' But that's where technology comes in! Jen and I recorded a little something for our moms and put it on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DyKucDgluU

I love you! Thanks for helping me get through one of the biggest adventures in my life! Your phone calls, emails, travel advice and words of encouragement have been spectacular and much needed. I hope the video makes you smile. I've gotten to smile LOTS because of you.

Happy Mothers Day from Hong Kong (and a few of our local friends).

The Need to Write

Today was just one of those days where nothing went exactly according to plan, yet I'm somehow feeling great-- about life in general.

Last night Jen and I went to a karaoke bar with Phil, Matt, Kaz (aka the USC boys) and a bunch of others. This was my second karaoke experience in Hong Kong, but this time was much more pleasant. First, it was just like any other karaoke bar you could imagine, except full of Asians. Or maybe that's what you imagined. Most karaoke venues in Hong Kong are just clusters of small, private rooms where you can sing your heart out without embarrassing yourself in front of 75 strangers. But this one was made for embarrassment. Second, because of this fact I got to watch locals perform. Oh. My. God. So perfect.

Anyway, we had a good time and came home at at decent hour.

The bad part was that I woke up after having the most bizarre dreams (not the most restful sleep) and with the worst headache. It must have been a combination of dehydration and alcohol because I only had three drinks over a few hours at karaoe. Whatever it was... sucked. On top of that, Jen and I had to go into town to pick up our airline tickets in Causeway Bay (and I had to pick up my newly altered pants) and our train passes for Japan. Well, I was supposed to get my train pass but I didn't have enough cash. So that will fall onto next week's to-do list. No big.

And today was HOT. The kind of hot that isn't unbearable, but worthy of a good sweat. The kind of hot that reminds me just how miserable I would be doing construction or something of the sort.

Other small things started to put me in a bad mood, but my mood never completely soured.

On my way home I went to Taste and picked up some goods to make a salad for dinner. Jen ordered a cheese pizza (from Pizza Hut of all places) and we got to sit outside and have dinner.

After dinner I came back to the room, started laundry and watched "PS I Love You." Ok, can we just get one thing out of the way. What is the deal with Hilary Swank movies making me cry like a baby?! "Boys Don't Cry." Check. "Million Dollar Baby." Check, check. And now this one! I guess what made me cry the hardest was the simple fact that I'm not separated from a boyfriend/husband in death like Swank's character, but I am in distance. Toward the end of the movie Kathy Bates says,

"I bet you've had a hard time walking into a room full of people on your own. Right? I know what it is to feel like you're not in the room until he looks at you or touches your hand or even makes a joke at your expense."

I miss that feeling-- just getting to look at Steven and have him look back at me. I miss good hugs, too. Being here doesn't make me want to go home simply for the little pleasures that I miss. Missing those pleasures is making this experience even better in a strange way. Missing the things and people I love is lonely somedays, but most days I'm just reminded of what makes me truly happy and healthy.

Haha... so now I'm going to bed with a "Booze Cruise" to look forward to tomorrow. Going from meaningful to just plain fun and trivial. We're going sailing in the harbor with the motto, "Let's get drunk before final exams." Great idea.

And for your viewing pleasure...

The last two weeks of school... I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have just a handful of lectures left and my projects are slowly ending. My Brand Management prof today announced that this was her final semester teaching this course as next year, her last at UST, she'll work solely with MBA marketing students. How lucky was I? She was fantastic and I learned more than I could have imagined. She gave us going away presents today in the form of a blown-up group photo we took at the beginning of the semester. I'm so in love with it! My group members, Gavin, Cindy and David, were wonderful to work with. We got off topic SO MANY TIMES just talking... or being 'hei' (lazy) as they would say.

To wish everyone luck on their projects and exams, the Hall III society, Glacier, put together a Roasted Pig Celebration. I wasn't planning on going, but I couldn't resist after I heard all the chanting and music from my room. By the time I got down there the first performance had already started. I posted the video below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwzB2jECarM

It's about 5 minutes long and you'll likely want to mute it after the first 45 seconds. It's amazing that I get to watch stuff like this by just stepping outside my dorm. It's also amazing that YouTube lets me share it with you.

What's the date?

I knew something was wrong by the time I got to my first class at 10am and thought, "What's today?" As soon as I opened my August-to-August calendar, I realized that it is Cinco de Mayo. Not a single Asian wished me a Happy Cinco de Mayo. Was I expecting too much? On top of that, none of the other exchange students brought up the date either. When it was St. Patrick's Day, that's all I heard from the other foreigners-- how they wished they could see the river died green, have a beer with breakfast or just get drunk with their friends at home. So where's the love for a holiday that has very little to do with Mexican independence? Sidenote: I can thank George for that tidbit and other random facts about the Battle of Puebla. Anyway. maybe I was the only one who wanted to be with friends and family eating breakfast tacos and drinking margaritas/Sol/Modelo/whatever on a Monday.

I bet I missed some kind of parade at home too. But parades are boring when you're 5'4" and like avoiding traffic jams-- keeping in mind those two things are unrelated, but equally critical. So if you're at home, I hope you skipped the parade and found a reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo... even if it did fall on a Monday. Viva Mexico!

Thanks to Google, I also found this when I searched images related to Cinco de Mayo. And it had cats.

People from Home

I was looking through pictures on my computer and found a few I love.

Steven and I playing in Zilker Park. Don't worry... I didn't get body-slammed.
Our amazing going-away party at Katie and Maggie's that ended up costing entirely too much money, but was worth every penny.
Me and Maggie at The Melting Pot for Spirits' GC Exec dinner.
Kristin and Travis dancing the night away at our Christmas party.
And of course, the current Facebook pic... at Lynn's 60th birthday bash.

There are so many more people I miss from Austin. Justin and his hilarious tributes to Eminem, Kat and her wonderfully nurturing spirit, my grandparents with their great accents and travel stories, Uncle Craig's FOX News obsession (love you, still), Juanita's meowing and homelessness, Norma Skinner, Pip (the most adorable dog I haven't met), Gerrie and Alyssa's and their constant laughter... I know I'm forgetting things.

The forgetfulness won't last long because I'll be home at the end of the month. Who could ever have imagined that this semester could have gone by so fast. At times it seemed slow, but I'm comfortable here now. I understand this city and how things work. I travel around town effortlessly as if I never had doubts or communication issues.

Jen says it's easy to blog about the funny things. I've done a lot of that. But know through all the jokes, I learned something-- either about myself, my friends, my patience, my willingness to just keep going, or my new town. Over the past three months, Hong Kong has somehow become my town. I live here? Oh yeah. And it's not the worst place to live.

Durian is Disgusting

Today was study-day. After thoroughly enjoying the first two days of our holiday weekend, I decided it was probably time to get work done-- especially since I have two marketing simulation projects coming to a close next week.

Jen's friend Max got in town on Wednesday night. He previously went to American University in DC (where bumper stickers say "Taxation without Representation") and decided to take a semester off to save money for 4 months of travel. He started his travels on April 2 in Tokyo and plans to finish by August in India. Nuts! Anyway, on Thursday night we met him in East Tsim Sha Tsui for "Crazy Hour" at Sticky Fingers. It's not a gay bar like George originally thought when he was in HK, but just a place to get "crazy" cheap drinks for $19HK ($2.43US) between 6-8pm. After we wandered through TST, we decided to take him to Good Luck Thai in LKF for good food and people-watching. From there we had mojitos (my second favorite mixed drink behind margaritas!) at La Bodega-- a bar that advertised "Mojito Night" without having any kind of special for mojitos. I was confused.


On Friday Jen and I went to Wan Chai to catch the end of the Olympic Torch Relay. Prior to arriving in Hong Kong, the torch was in Ho Chi Minh City, and its arrival marked the start of the relay through China. Well, we goofed. Somehow we thought the closing ceremony would be open to the public at the conclusion of the race... and it wasn't. So we went all that way, through thousands of people to just see... well, Chinese people wearing red. I'll have to steal some pictures from friends who actually saw the torch go by.

Bummed, Jen and I went to Soho (our favorite spot in Central) to shop on Hollywood Road. On the way, we walked through an alley market-- a great reminder that we ARE in Asia.




Can we just take a moment to notice how BUFF the butcher is? Oh yeah... and there's a bucket of skin under the table. But most of the time, Hong Kong looks like New York or some other magnificently western city. Most of the time.

Max joined us for dinner in Soho and we finished the night at Makumba, the African bar I went to earlier in the semester.

Max had better pictures on his camera, but this'll give you a taste of their moves that night. Oh, and to Jen's right, you can see the flirty couple that we loved to watch. The guy had some serious good slow dance moves, but as soon as the tempo picked up, he returned to his more nerdy state of uncoordination. But man! When the music was slow, Jen and I kept looking at each other saying, "Where are the Steve(n)'s?!"

Oh, so back to the reason I wrote this post. Max came to campus today to do laundry, tour and have dinner at Uni-Bar. If you visited me in Hong Kong, I would have taken you to Uni-Bar too. Especially since we figured out that we can sit at the back table and keep refilling our wine glasses with our under-the-table bottle from Park 'N' Shop. Sweet!

After Uni-Bar we took Max to Honeymoon Dessert... mostly so we could finally try durian, a popular Asian fruit. Durian (see picture below) is quite distinct both in look and smell. Quoting Wikipedia, "... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia." Ok, well maybe it's SUPPOSED to be banned, but we've definitely smelled it all around town.

Ok, by that description, you shouldn't be surprised that the taste was quite disgusting. I think my favorite quote of the night came from Jen after dinner. She said, "I just burped durian! F* durian!" I couldn't stop laughing because as soon as Jen started burping, we followed... which made it even funnier.

So needless to say I think my day started as well as it ended. Studying = terrible. Durian = terrible. Nonetheless, good company made for a good night.