Check

Great news! I found the indie scene! I was very worried about music life in Hong Kong as most of my students only seem to like pop music. Thankfully, my misconceptions were shattered this past Saturday evening. After a lovely trip to Victoria Peak with Becci, I was at a loss for what to do the rest of the night. Becci and I didn’t want to go to Wan Chai (a popular night-life area) because it is too western and every night spent there is exactly like the last. They always play the same club songs and there are almost no local people….plus the clubs are packed like a sardine tin. So instead of making the standard night out plans Becci and I decided to try something different…ghasp! We were wandering around an area called SoHo when the people we were with spotted a flyer that said INDIE PARTY on it. How fortuitous! Into a taxi we went and we were off to an excellent night. There wasn’t a cover charge, the DJ played exellent music, there were local people, there was room to dance, and we even got invited to another indie night at a different venue. PS taxis are wonderful here and cost about $1 US for a ten minute trip when split between four people. :D

Moon cake

Do you know what the best part of the Mid-Autumn festival is? There is no work today, it's a national holiday! I know I know, you're jealous. Don't worry, labor day doesn't exist here so we're even. Tonight I plan on going to see the dragon parade in Victoria Park which is supposed to be excellent. However, I don't know how much more moon cake I can eat. Moon cake is the hallmark of the Festival and I'm not quite sure if I like it. There are several different flavors, each one stranger (yet palatable) than the last. The cakes themselves all have goose egg yokes in the middle, a white/yellow casing on the outside, and are filled with different flavored fillings of varying tastes. It is also a tradition to give them to friends and co-workers so all week they have magically been appearing on my desk. At least I know that I am loved.

Also, since the last post Becci and I went to the Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas in Sha Tin and it was wonderful! However, we chose one of the hottest days which was a bad decision as there were about 700 steps to reach the temple. The place was also a bit creepy as the monk who founded the place is preserved there. The story goes that he told his followers that if he was to be buried on the monastery grounds in a crouching position, then he would not decompose. Sure enough when they dug him up nine months later, he was perfectly intact. So, naturally they covered him in gold leaf and put him on display for all people willing to climb 700 steps to see.

...Is your uniform perfect?

I know that I have written about uniforms before but man are they tough. At morning assembly today I saw two boys getting told that they must get haircuts. Apparently their side burns were too long (at some schools they would have just cut it for them.) The girls aren't safe either. No curls for them. The discipline teacher actually combs through their hair and checks for them everyday. And the prefects, yes like in Harry Potter, they run around with these check sheets and make sure that everyone has on the right color socks, that their shirts are tucked in, that their belts are tight, etc. Anyone who deviates gets their name written down. After so many times you might get ...A BLUE PAPER AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Still don't know what that means. I do know that blue is bad and red is good, beyond that I am clueless. I assume that there is some form of punishment associated with them but I don't know what it is, I tried to ask a student and they wouldn't tell me.

The kids are amazing. I cannot believe how well they speak English. America should really direct more money and resources towards foreign language (and really all other subjects)instruction. Of course, Hong Kong does not run on a free and public system. Almost all students pay tuition and that is even if the students have the privilage of attending the school of their choice. If you don't pass the test or you aren't the child of some sort of movie star, you are not getting in. The really good schools do have scholarship programs, but those are reserved for the geniouses. And I mean the geniouises.

Well it's that time again...past my bed time.

Really, it's Friday?!?

To my astonishment, I once again find myself on the fringe of Friday. Where did the week go? The advantage of a busy work schedule: weekends magically appear. Seriously though, I feel like I am in a time vortex here. Must mean that I am having fun, right? The downside is that I haven't gotten a chance to do much touristy stuff yet. I really want to go back to Lantau and see the big Buddha. And I want to go hiking in the new territories. And I want to eat at a bazillion restaurants. All in good time.

Tomorrow I will conduct the first weekly English radio hour broadcast at the secondary school where I teach. I am really excited even though it will be mostly cheesy pop music that will be played. I selected some songs that students told me were their favorite and I have made up a DJ script for the students to use. It seems as though there isn't much of a rock or indie scene in HK although there will be a Gorillas concert here in December (Becci and I want to go!). Mostly the kids listen to J-pop, K-pop, and anything in the American top 40. I could be wrong though and there may be secret Vampire Weekend or Aqua Lung fans hiding in the shadows.

I have also noticed that there is a culture-wide love of anything cute in Hong Kong. Even the teachers use Hello Kitty pens and have cartoon puppy dogs with hearts as their computer backgrounds (male and female). The secondary students, even the older ones, are also very immature and socially awkward (of course there are exceptions). I would say that they are about three years behind socially and two years ahead mentally.

Ugh, it's past my bedtime! Enjoy the picture of my street above!!!

Warning

What ever you do in life (cure cancer, end world hunger, travel to Mars...) avoid trying ube or anything ube-flavored at all costs. If you see this innocent looking purple melon-fruit in Asia or in any Chinatown world wide treat it like an illegal addictive drug: don't do it. That's right. Because even if you are thinking of trying it don't. I thought I would be brave and cool but really I just ended up looking like a jerk. Ube is not one of those foods that you realize you do not like but, for the sake of appearance, you finish what is on your plate. No. It's not that simple: ube is the food that you spit right out into your napkin and try to scrape off of your tongue. This juvenile behavior is then promptly followed by a vigorous tooth brushing.

Now Becci and I are going to enjoy some Portuguese-style bakery treats from one of the three bakeries right out side of the building...which one will it be?!?

Settled (Almost)

Today we got the internet. Oh yeah. Tomorrow the fridge will be picked up. This is good. Monday will mark the beginning of my first full week of school. Nice.

Last week at school was very interesting. It was a lot different from working in an American high school. The day begins with twenty five minutes of morning announcements. During this time, students must stand silently in straight lines while teachers inspect their uniforms and deliver announcements. Any students that are late must stand to the side of the group. There are always late students. Always. The classes are also a little bigger as each class has forty students. The work load in incredible. Each student is expected to play an instrument, speak Putonghua, Cantonese, and English, play a sport, and participate in clubs. Additionally, they have at least five hours of homework to complete every day once they leave school and the preparation for standardized exams in very rigorous.

Enough of the 'bad.' What I really like about the Hong Kong system is that the students get almost a full hour for lunch as well as a fifteen and five minute break mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Additionally, the schools are very well designed. Almost all of the schools in Hong Kong are laid out centered around 1-3 basket ball courts with the classrooms encircling them. It sort of looks like a motel. The students have to go outside to go from class to class.

Right now things are a bit tough because every one of the almost two thousand students and staff know my name and I barely know any of the staff! And to make things more confusing, all announcements and paperwork are in Cantonese. It's a struggle, but luckily the teachers and students are happy to help me and the only people that have extremely limited English are the janitors and some of the office staff.

I have started to pick up a few key Cantonese phrases (very few!) but I can say important things like good morning, thank you, and dim sum. I really like the phrase for dim sum. In Cantonese it is 'yum cha' which literally translates to 'drink tea.' I learned (from Betty Lai and others) that it is called 'drink tea' because that is what you do the whole meal! Makes sense, right? I have also learned that there is no actual equivalent to 'I'm sorry' in Cantonese and most native speakers have just adopted the English phrase into their vocabularies.

So, you might be wondering what my favorite thing about Hong Kong is so far. In general, I would have to say that my favorite thing is the food (there's so much variety!) followed closely by the contrasting landscape. Since Hong Kong is a mountainous island, only the rim of the island is truly developed so when you look at a skyscraper there is a green mountain in the back ground. It's wild.

Getting Settled

So I have survived my flight, adjusted to the heat (somewhat), found an apartment, and made some friends. Things are going well despite the money shortage. Luckily, I will be getting paid soon and all will be well. My room mate (Becci) and I have managed to find a cute if tiny apartment located in North Point on Hong Kong Island. We saw it and we were in love. Of course this love came after viewing terrible and terribly expensive apartments. Still, it is a great place. I love the location, the food, the apartment, and the general atmosphere. There are several people that we know living close by and it is nice to have that security network. There are even people living in our building that we know.

So far, the biggest cultural shock that I have had is adjusting to Britishisms. Trash is 'rubbish,' food is not flavorful it is 'flavorsome,' my name is not Emma it is 'Emmar,' elevators are 'lifts,' trucks are 'lorries,' and the list goes on and on. The miscommunication has been numerous, humorous, and utterly frustrating. Although it is better now, the first week or so was filled with many 'huhs? 'can you repeat thats?' and 'that's not what I meant at alls!' Now the situation has progressed to a much more terrifying stage where I am saying flat and Becci is saying apartment. I must say that my impression of a British accent is much improved.