Culture Shock Part I: Some Like It Hot

Wow, has it been a long time - cleared out the cobwebs, now it's time to write some more!
I received a prompt to write about culture shock and, since I've been here for over two months, I think I have enough material.

Firstly, while I can usually make out about 70% of a menu at a restaurant, there's always some anticipation about what will be on the dinner plate when it arrives to the table. This has happened at the cafeteria on campus as well; this can attributed to the fact that 15% of the time the English translation is not quite accurate, or does not account for cultural difference.

Example: 'Saliva Chicken,' which was a direct translation from the Chinese. My stomach did a little flip when I saw it for the first time. I consulted the student standing in line behind me and pointed to the sign, which he laughed at, and assured me that no saliva was involved, and that it was actually good (which was true).

Also, when something on the menu says that it's spicy, take it as a warning. There's a spicy vermicelli set that is always on the menu, and I frequently saw people ordering it, so I took a chance. "What level spice? 1, 2, or 3?" "Whatever is lowest, PLEASE!"

I like spicy foods in the U.S., but Chinese levels of spicy are a lot hotter than what most Westerners are probably accustomed to. On any given menu in Hong Kong there are several items that have the potential to be the undoing of many an exchange student's stomach, so fiery that they can make you dissolve into an uncontrollable fit of choking, tears, and searing mouth and lip pain in a matter of seconds. They are merciless and should be regarded as menaces to the expat community at large.

Since being here I've had several incidents of taking a bite of food, only to end up in a five minute choking fit, tears cascading down my tomato-red face as those around glance at me then, I'm sure, give each other a knowing glance. Ah, the American tried to eat something spicy. I hope that in the thralls of my painful fits of spiciness I've at least made some people chuckle.

As I struggled to even eat a noodle of the spicy vermicelli that day, my friend from Szechuan (an area of China known for spicy foods) eagerly dug into her level 3 bowl. After 15 minutes my lips were on fire from attempting to eat even a few spoonfuls. "You know," she said as she finished the meat and veggies, then went on to slurp the last bit of her soup, "eating too many spicy foods can be bad for your stomach."

Lessons Learned:
* Take small bites and never be without a drink in case of emergency
* For those new to Chinese, beware of THIS character: 辣 and never take a chili pepper icon next to a menu item for granted
* Take culinary recommendations from students from Szechuan with a grain of salt (or a full glass of water, more preferably milk)

Everyday Life - Food, traveling, and campus activities

A pavilion on campus

To this point I haven't really talked about my everyday life, just traveling. But, perhaps the most important part of my journey is my everyday life here on campus with my classmates. Classes so far have been fairly easy, but that's because we're still in that 'beginning of the school year' mode, and we've really only had classes for two weeks, less if you consider that there was already a day off for a public holiday (Mid-Autumn Festival) last week. In addition to classes, I've joined some clubs: choir, a social service organization, Lion's Club activities, and a traditional Chinese lion dance club. I realize that some people haven't heard of a lion dance, so here's a link: http://www.google.com.hk/search?q=lion+dance&hl=zh-TW&biw=1680&bih=858&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EiR4Ts_APKKsiAfV-4zLDA&ved=0CEUQsAQ

Basically, people wear the lion costumes while other members bang cymbals, gongs, and drums. Last practice I really enjoyed playing the drum and memorizing the routine, though I've forgotten 60% of it since last time (fantastic, since we have practice again tonight). I've always wanted to play the drums, probably since I have enjoyed watching my father play his drum set since I was little, but I've never had enough coordination to play the different beats with my hands and feet; luckily, there's only one drum to play in the lion dance.

What a lion dance-dancer may look like

I really enjoy the clubs, so I'm a bit upset that I've arranged my flight to leave before Christmas; I did this mostly because of the issue of cost, and partly because I anticipated being homesick by Christmas. But a lot of club performances, like the choir, are happening AFTER Christmas or around New Year's, so as of today I'll be missing performing at the IFC Center in Central Hong Kong, and other fun things. I looked at the prices of arranging a one-way flight back to the U.S. after Christmas, and it's even more than what I paid for my round-trip ticket...over $1500! I try not to focus on this and just enjoy the moments, especially hearing the choir members sing karaoke after practice. We're practicing Christmas songs in practices, then the students like to sing Cantonese and Mandarin songs. I'm asked if I want to sing any English songs, but most of our American karaoke standards aren't very well known ("Don't Stop Believing," anyone?). What American karaoke songs do you think I should teach them?

What my wallet would look like if I booked that $1500 flight

As I've read in other student blogs, students here stay up into the wee hours of the morning, though a majority of them are quiet. Since I've been a little sick recently I've stayed up some nights, and I've noticed most lights from the rooms in our dorm don't go out until 2 or 3am. Since this is my first time in a dorm, I really don't know if this is normal compared with the U.S. or not...usually I don't stay up so late unless I'm putting the finishing touches on a paper that's due the next day (I can't do without 8 hours or I'm a bear in the morning). I think of my college back home as extremely study-oriented, so I was surprised that the library here is only open until 10pm. However, the library is fantastic: there's three floors, a technology center, a magazine and newspaper reading room, a room for watching television with private headsets, a huge DVD library, and lots of language-learning resources (you know which part I like the most!). Also, I haven't even had to purchase any textbooks because they've available for loan at the library - I love the feeling of being thrifty.

Aside from the library, however, there aren't really a lot of places to hang out on campus. Back home the library's open until early in the morning, there's a common room in the dorm, one below the cafeteria, a student activity building with beanbag chairs. Unless I'm missing something, the only place I can think of to go after the library closes is the common room in the dorm, or your own room, so students usually hang out in their own rooms.

Most of the time I would hang out in my room, but I've been having a bit of a salamander issue. There's been a greyish-orange salamander creeping along the walls of my room for the past two weeks, and it's managed to become so comfy that it's hatched eggs. I'm not a very violent person, so I've tried to catch them in a jar and release them outside, but they're just too fast! However, desperate times call for desperate measures, so before they crawl into a tiny spot I can't reach, I literally throw the book at them, or just about anything else I can find that won't damage the walls. Once I tried spraying them with Off! mosquito repellent, but, of course, they're not mosquitoes, so that didn't quite work. I've been so sick of having a third 'roommate' that I've become fearless, coming into my room and actually going hunting for the slimy thing.

Last night I finally had success; I caught a baby one off-guard and quickly squashed it with my shoe. I was ecstatic to have finally eliminated one, and I finally had proof for my roommate that they actually exist in our room (whether it was a good move to show her or not, I don't know)! You see, they never show when my roommate is around, only when she's gone home (maybe they think I'm lonely?), probably because the noise scares them away. I'd like to tell the dorm staff about the salamander, but I (1) don't know how to say salamander in Cantonese (2) don't know if they could do much; after all, I haven't even been able to catch it for two weeks!

The food (in my opinion anyway) is delicious, and there's a lot of healthy choices, though the menu tends to circulate between the same items a few times a week. Then again, there's over thirty choices, plus different sandwiches, soups, and salads, so I wonder if I really should be complaining...the average price of a meal with a drink is $30 HK, which is roughly a little over $3 US. Rice is served with everything, unless it's a noodle dish. I also like the variety of drinks that are available - there's the usual Mountain Dew and Coca-Cola products, but there's also great flavoured soybean milk drinks, fruit juice drinks with jelly, and fruit milk drinks, my favorite being coconut milk. A drink from a vending machine is around $5 HK (less than $1 US!).

Traveling is very convenient and inexpensive - there's a small shopping center less than ten minutes away by foot, and if you want to go someplace different, just walk to the MTR (10~ minutes away) or take a bus at the stop in front of the university. With a student Octopus (rechargeable pre-paid) card, it's usually about .50 - $1.50 US to go anywhere on any kind of transportation. The systems are also very clean and efficient, and it really makes me wish that I could have a system like this to go to Pittsburgh or South Hills back home. Traveling, even as a single female, is also very safe - in fact, I believe that Hong Kong was ranked as one of the top places in the world for single women travelers. I also remember in Japan that my host mother would go out late at night to see friends and not return until midnight in a city of 2 million people, all on her own; I wish I could take this cultural aspect back home, too.

Well, I think I've given you all more than an earful, so I'll wrap this up. Take care!

One Night in Mongkok (Markets, Food Stalls, and Huge Crowds)

Market on Flower Garden Street (Video, click!)

(I'd like to apologize ahead of time for the cheesy title...couldn't help it, it practically BEGGED for it!)

I was in search of adventure after spending the latter half of last week stuck on campus, feeling a bit under the weather. Plus, one of my Swedish friends was a little homesick and in need of some bed covers, so we went to the Ikea in Sha Tin (I have yet to feel homesick for American culture/food and go to MacDonald's or Pizza Hut). The Ikea is pretty close to Mong Kok, so we thought, 'What the heck,' and decided to hit it up.

What makes Mong Kok special is that it has preserved its street markets, which are must-sees on every tourist's list here. It was an experience to not only explore the markets, but to fight through the crowds in the city with the largest population density in the world...on a weekend!

Work your way through the more 'modern' streets with their movie billboards and shopping centers, then follow your nose to the source of the smells of shrimp dumplings, chili sauce and other unidentifiable but delicious meaty street snacks. I'm a bit iffy when it comes to street food because you never know about quality (and sanitary issues); so, when in doubt, go where the crowd is! This led to some absolutely delicious unidentifiable meat dumplings on a stick slathered with chili sauce. Later we went to a Taiwanese-style dessert restaurant and had THIS sugary delight: ice-shaved cream with jellies and marshmallows.
At the markets there's what appears to be miles and miles of purses, clothing, Chinese decorations, toys, accessories, books, shoes, fruit, and various electronic odds and ends. And you can tell this is some original, quality stuff; take, for example, the beautiful licensed Mickey Mouse T-shirt below!

Suuuure.......

Yeah, this CHILD'S shirt looks legit, too

I can't imagine EVER having a shopping experience like this one in the U.S. I can't imagine how anyone could EVER buy or use all of the stuff that has been crammed into the streets, or how all of these people can live and work in such crowded conditions, stacked in rooms on top of each other, let alone how anyone could sleep with a booming market below them, with salesmen with microphones selling the latest vacuum cleaner.

I'd write some more, but I'm exhausted, so enjoy some photos~

Don't even attempt to DRIVE here, geesh...

Orientation and Student Activity Carnival

Sorry for not writing, this week has been long with four days of orientation! I talked about the first one last time, but the day afterward the local first-year students (including my roommate!) came. These orientations lasted all day, from nearly 8:30am to 7pm or so. Unfortunately, I have to report that most of the orientation lectures were a bit ho-hum, which you could tell by looking around the room at the students with glazed looks in their eyes. Fortunately, during meals we were divided into groups within our hostels, so I had the chance to meet more people living on my floor, which was definitely NOT boring. Also, it was exciting to be in the auditorium with hundreds of students doing their hostel cheers (HALL B O YEAH!!!).

I tried to read it the best I could, haha.

This is when a bit of culture shock came in: this was my first time living in a place where people speak a language I barely understand at all. People are nice and translate what's going on, but I hate making them do that. I hate making them stop enjoying their conversation to cater to me. I'm determined to learn Cantonese; in fact, if you came to my room right now, you'll see all the flashcards I've made this afternoon, haha.

Also, sometimes it's difficult to order at the cafeteria, but I have a plan: I bring a little notepad so I can write down the Chinese names of the dishes! There's another thing, a cultural thing, that took me for surprise: washing your cups and silverware with tea before eating. I was sort of faked out a bit when I saw people pouring their tea, only for them to pour it into their bowl, then placing their cup and chopsticks in it. Afterward, they dumped this used tea into a large container. The look on my face must have been priceless: I never remembered reading anything about that in the guidebooks!!

Delicious fruit dessert after a long and hot day

Finally, we were all rewarded from sitting in the lectures with a student carnival, where we could sign up for clubs! I'm trying to sign up for too many because schoolwork comes first, plus I want time to travel off of campus. I signed up for SSA, which is a group that volunteers in the community with children and the elderly. I also signed up for the choir, and I'd like to find a sport club to join as well.

A DRAGON DANCE club, that's AWESOME!

...there must be over 50 clubs to join here.

Discovering the pleasures of Dim Sum

In other news, I hope to meet my roommate soon, and we had orientation today, where I met lots of Mainland and international exchange students. 

The Office of Mainland and International Programmes (OMIP) took us to the Chinese restaurant on campus, where we had absolutely delicious foods, including dim sum, which are well-known Cantonese dumplings. However, there are a variety of different ones: shrimp, chicken, all sorts of mouth-wateringly delicious things you can imagine can be packed into these succulent dumplings. I originally had dim sum for breakfast and thought it was amazing, so I was excited to find out that we were having it for lunch!


Breakfast

The long one is rice with a kind of gravy wrapped in a rice roll and bamboo leaves(?). There's also a pork ball, and the white one is like a pastry filled with a sweet jam of sorts. 

 Part of lunch

Shrimp and more yummy jam dumplings

In Chinese restaurants, food is served on a lazy susan, so everyone can help themselves

Sweet and sour chicken, some sort of green bean-type veggie, chicken in a sweet corn glaze, and crab and wintermelon soup.


Also learned about a Cantonese(?) custom: when someone pours you tea, you should tap two knuckles on the table twice. This stems from a story about an emperor who was traveling incognito with his followers. When the emperor went to pour tea for his officials, they wondered how they could thank him, as kowtowing would blow his cover. So the two knuckles symbolize legs bowing, from what I understand...more later!

Hong Kong money - and Shopping!

This is my first full day on campus, after sleeping off the jet lag and sore muscles from carrying my luggage yesterday. I met some other exchange students from the US, South Korea and Russia, and we went shopping at the Fu Tai Shopping Center, just a 10-minute walk from campus.

It was so awkward trying to shop because I had to constantly convert HK dollars into US - luckily I brought the pocket calculator that my mom bought me (thanks mom!)

Here are my 'treasures' from today's shopping:

There are plenty of American brands, and Japanese stores carrying household items, cosmetics, and candies are everywhere! Here are the receipts:

"Wow, all of that cost $85?" Well, remember that it's HK dollars. $1 US = $7.8 HK, so it all was really a little over $10 US. Lunch on campus is usually under $5 US - I'll show you later.

The shopping center was very modern, and the line at the supermarket reminded me of home, but not a fond memory (Walmart lines, *shudder*). There's also a bustling market next to the shopping center with Chinese medicines, live fish, and lots of nifty things, but that's for another day. Right now I'd just like to get settled in.

Orientation is on Monday, so I'll have more to talk about then. Bye for now!

Arrived in Hong Kong!

Hello everyone! So, I just arrived yesterday in Hong Kong to study for a semester at Lingnan Univerity. Lingnan is located in western Hong Kong, in a region called the New Territories. As you can see from the map, Hong Kong is not just a city but a Special Administrative Region of China. Lingnan is located in Tuen Men city.

After a 15-hour flight from Toronto, I arrived at the airport and realized that my two pieces of luggage, while under the weight limit, were extremely huge and difficult to move. I met some other exchange students there, then some Lingnan students came to pick us up, then whisked us away on a bus.

There were two things that were very notable on the way there: how beautiful the mountains are, and how many enormously high apartment high rises there are. I tried to look up at one when I was next to it and became a little dizzy...

I've never stayed in a dorm before, so I suppose I found my room a little small. But the Lingnan campus is a LOT bigger than W&J, and very beautiful, too (will post pics!). Lots of trees and shaded walkways, which is fantastic, because the humidity here takes your breath away.

I woke up at 6am today and went for a morning walk to explore the campus. I've met some more exchange students, from Mainland China and elsewhere, along the way. My Chinese professor will be happy to know that I've already been practicing my Mandarin Chinese with some students here, and I'm excited to learn Cantonese!

A view from the dorm...notice the construction into the beautiful hillside. :(