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!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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
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
Monday, May 26, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
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.
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!
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!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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.
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.
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