What makes HK unique...

Well, I'm just about halfway done with my Masters now! It's pretty incredible when I think about it. I only have one week left of school for this semester. And what happens after that? I'm still trying to figure it out. I'll be staying in HK through the holidays, which is about all I know at the moment. The university is trying to set me up with an internship at CNN, but with the recent developments in India, they've been understandably busy. I desperately want to make some money though. Rotary's funds, unfortunately, barely cover enough for tuition and rent, so I'm living pretty modestly day-to-day. At home it was so easy to pick up a few babysitting jobs here and there, but the tricky part about HK is that everyone has a full-time nanny... EVERYONE. Just yesterday I was offered a job translating for a French documentary in production here, which would pay $230US/day, but unfortunately they needed me this Tuesday and I have my final online journalism course that day. Boo.

I guess English tutoring is the most common part-time work to get here, basically as easy to find as a babysitting job at home. I just recently started working with a nice lady named Tammy. She works as a secretary and wants to improve her conversational English and grammar. I thought teaching English would be a piece of cake because, well, I'm sort of fluent, but it's actually quite challenging! We've decided to meet for an hour twice a week at the Starbucks in Central. She pays $100HKD/hour for me to help her (which is about $12US), but that's actually much lower than the average rate by about half. I would feel uncomfortable asking for more though. It's already awkward enough when the hour is up and she has to reach into her purse to hand me money in front of everyone. I feel almost as though I'm stealing from her.

Anyway, it's starting to get cooler here finally. Maybe I'm just a wimp, but at night I get quite cold. The highs have been in the low 70s this week and lows in the 60s at night. I'm sure that doesn't sound bad, but I don't have ANY winter clothes. I need to buy some, but first I need money... the real world is challenging. I'm actually starting to get concerned because my apartment is like an ice box. There are no heating systems in HK either because it's normally very warm, so this should be an interesting winter. It's funny to walk around HK now that it's colder too because people wear the craziest stuff. I've seen fur coats and ski gear (and keep in mind it hasn't dropped below 60 yet).

Some other funny HK/Chinese things:

I witnessed some bizarre minibus activity recently. The other day I had a driver who was looking in the mirror and tweezing his whiskers while driving. Another driver stopped in the middle of the road across from an outdoor market and yelled for a woman to bring him a drink. He held up traffic (and everyone on the bus) while he waited for it. My friend, Leani, said she saw someone clipping their toe nails on the bus once as well. Haha, there is never a dull day here!

The McDonald's menu is also something quite interesting here. Check out this poster below for a delicious Fish Finger Deluxe Breakfast... yummy! They've also just introduced shrimp burgers (which is actually more like a shrimp paste) and apparently they are a hot seller. I'm not a McDonald's fan myself, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly in the States.



Also, I have been extremely impressed by the holiday decoration displays all over town. Hong Kong goes nuts for this stuff. As you can see, Chinese people are forward thinkers... it's not even December yet and they're wishing you a Happy New Year! I also like that the Japan Home Center (great place for all your home supply needs) is selling miniature Christmas trees. I'm getting excited!!

A little taste of home...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

This could quite possibly be my favorite holiday of the year! I'm bummed that I couldn't spend it with my family back home (in fact this is the first Thanksgiving I have spent away from my family), but thankfully I have a wonderful support system here in Hong Kong. My Chinese aunt and uncle, CK and Suk Yee, invited my roommate and I to a fabulous Thanksgiving feast at the Marriott. CK's brother and his wife, which is one of Mina's sisters (refer to August blogs for info on Mina) were also there, in addition to another one of Mina's sisters and her husband. It was definitely nice to spend the holiday with family, even if it wasn't my biological one.

I had a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, green beans, loaded baked potato, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and even pumpkin pie and apple pie for dessert. I had some really great, fresh sushi to add a little HK flavor to the meal as well. Everything was awesome!

And like a typical Thanksgiving, I was completely stuffed afterward. Sandy (my roommate) and I came back to our apartment, got into some comfy clothes (i.e. sweatpants and a t-shirt), and watched a movie.

I've been completely swamped with schoolwork this week, but decided to take a personal day today to celebrate some of my American culture. It's nice that I can be half a world away and still feel so connected to home.

Sandy is napping right now and I think I may do the same. Happy Thanksgiving again! I am so thankful for the love and support from each and every one of you! You all make my life so much richer.


Group shot ...sorry about the mirror glare


CK's brother and Mina's sister (husband and wife)


Mina's sister and her husband (New Yorkers now) ...*FYI, the woman in the background (American) hoarded all of the cranberry sauce, took two full plates of pie and other miscellaneous desserts, and went back to the buffet at least a dozen times.


JW Marriott HK buffet= fabulous!


Thanksgiving station with my favorite turkey-slicer guy.


Pumpkin pie ...a skinnier version.

October... and then some.

Hello everyone! It's been so long since my last post that it may be good to introduce myself again. My name is Sarah, I am studying at HKU, and somehow an entire month+ has flashed by before my eyes. I have absolutely no idea where the time has gone. No need to worry though. I am happy, healthy and safe. I will try to be more diligent about keeping you updated.

In the next few paragraphs I will attempt to recap everything that has happened in my life since my last post 6 weeks ago, although I'm sure there will be many forgotten details. I apologize for that. (Yikes! I still cannot believe it has been that long).

In late September my friend, Ryan, came to visit for about 10 days. It was challenging keeping up with the demands of school and trying to be a good hostess at the same time, but I enjoyed the opportunity to do some touristy things that I had been putting off.

Top 3:
-Taking the cable cars to Lantau Island and hiking up 300 steps to see the Giant Buddha (apparently the largest seated Buddha in the world).


-A one-night trip to Macau and winning $600HKD at the Venetian roulette tables.


-Hiking up to the lookout point on Cheung Chau Island, a quaint fishing village.


Moving on...

October 13: I gave a Rotary presentation to my host club, the Rotary Club of Tsim Sha Tsui. It went very well. I still get nervous right before I present, but that usually passes quickly once I get into it.



October 17-24: Spent a week in Cambodia and Vietnam with Lily Wu, another Rotary Scholar. If you're curious about my trip, drop me a line. There is way too much to cover just in this blog. I'll try to devote another entry entirely to my Cam and Nam experiences later on.

October 29: Gave a Rotary presentation to the Rotary Club of Lan Kwai Fong. I made it a little more interactive this time by teaching them how to say "y'all" at the beginning. It was quite entertaining. :)


October 31: HALLOWEEN!!! To my surprise, Halloween is a HUGE holiday here. Children trick-or-treat and adults go to Lan Kwai Fong, usually dressed up and slightly intoxicated. There is also another group that goes to LKF simply to take photos of the crazy, costumed drunk people. It is one of the MUST-DO events in HK. Total madness! (Just check out the crowd below). I went out with some of my grad school friends. Leani and I were both fairies (pink and purple... it was basically an excuse to get the wigs, which we both swear we'll use again...).




November 2: Home Care for Girls 10th Anniversary dinner. I went with my host Rotary club because it is one of the projects they support. Home Care for Girls provides shelter and counseling to young women in HK (ages 13-18) who come from unstable families and/or home environments. The program gives them the skills and emotional support to become independent.

November 5: Watched the U.S. Presidential Election results live from the Hong Kong Club. It was an event sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce and was open to the public. Americans made up only a small percentage of the attendees. There was quite a large European and Asian representation. The crowd was also overwhelmingly for Obama though. I think I found about 5 McCain supporters and 1 Green Party voter.


November 8-9: Rotary Orientation for outbound scholars. This was the first time HK Rotary District 3450 hosted a regional orientation. It turned out to be mainly Taiwanese scholars in attendance. Myself and some of the other inbound scholars, in addition to Rotary alumni, helped prepare the Taiwanese scholars for their upcoming study abroad periods by teaching them how to give presentations, preparing them for culture shock, and giving them skills to help overcome potential obstacles. I really enjoyed getting to know the group. Also, to my surprise, I met another Rotary scholar from District 7770 in Columbia, SC!! His name is Matt and he's teaching English to kindergartners here in HK before starting his scholarship period next summer in Grenada. It really is such a small world!

In fact, I just got home from having dinner with Matt and his girlfriend Katy, who is also here teaching English. We had grits at a 24-hour breakfast place to celebrate our "southerness". I even got them with cheese, so yummy! :)

Okay, so I know that was a very brief glimpse into everything I've been doing recently, but I promise to do better in the future. Also, I want to say a special THANK YOU to everyone who has sent me mail so far...

Thank you Kim Jamieson, Brandon Sharpe, Nana & Pop, and Aunt Sue Sue!!! I love you all!! xx