Assimilating

Wednesday was EXTREMELY busy. I rode the bus all by myself to school, which was extremely monumental! I’m starting to understand there are not many rules when it comes to the green minibuses. The scheduled stops are more like guidelines and passengers have to be pretty aggressive if they want to get on or off the bus. Even if you’re at a designated bus stop you still have to hail the bus like a taxi or it won’t stop (it drove right passed me one day because I didn’t know to put my hand up and I had to wait another 10-15 minutes for the next one). What’s convenient is that you can hail it from anywhere on the bus route and the driver will stop in the middle of traffic to pick you up. The scary part for me is that you have to yell to get off and if you’re unfamiliar with the area it makes it very difficult to know when to shout. Luckily I’ve become familiar with landmarks around the university and found the nerve to shout, “next stop,” in Cantonese (sounds like “Bah see sum”). I felt very accomplished.

I made it to the Health Orientation a little early again and make sure to verify that it was definitely in English. It was not only in English, but quite interesting and informative. Of course, like a giant nerd, I took notes. Here are a few things I learned:

-The University Health Center provides care for more than 32,000 people (students, faculty, staff, and their dependents).

-Most Hong Kong people go to the doctor for EVERYTHING… even symptoms of a cold. (The nurse said Americans don’t do that, opting to self-medicate instead for minor illnesses. I thought that was pretty accurate).

-8% of the Hong Kong population is a Hepatitis B carrier.

-Hepatitis A is a high risk in China and Hong Kong, especially from shell seafood. Also, if you get HepA it takes 6 months to recover.

-According to the nurse, the biggest health concern now for Hong Kong is Avian Flu. To protect yourself it’s important to cook all meat and wash your hands frequently. If you do feel flu symptoms, she suggested wearing a mask.

*Side note: It could be that I’m more aware of it now, but I’ve seen a lot of people wearing masks since this talk and it makes me really nervous. Some people choose to wear them because the air quality is poor, but it still puts me on alert every time I see someone with a mask on these days.

After the Health Orientation everyone was ushered through a line to receive a free diphtheria and tetanus booster. It was a combo shot and my last tetanus was in 1999, so I figured it was about time for another. That was two days ago and my arm is still VERY sore (like so sore that I can’t sleep on my left side at night). The University Health Center also provided free dental screenings. I didn’t take advantage of that because I’d just visited the dentist a couple weeks ago, but I still thought it was pretty interesting.

Later, I met a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from the 2007-2008 academic year, Lily Wu, who was also pursuing a Master of Journalism degree at HKU. Our similar experience and interests led us to talk for 2 ½ hours and I felt like we hit it off immediately! Talking to her was probably the highlight of my day. She gave me great advice on giving Rotary presentations, succeeding in the Journalism and Media Studies Center (she said I’ll be light-years ahead because of my Final Cut Pro experience), and advice on where to pursue internships. She interned with CNN here, but said it is not a good place for gaining practical experience because they do not give the interns much responsibility. Instead, she suggested I intern with TVB (Pearl) because there is a chance I could even make it on air. Something interesting she shared is that white skin is highly revered and thought to be very beautiful. (Many women carry umbrellas to block themselves from the sun and they also put on a special cream to keep their skin looking whiter. I think it’s funny because a lot of American women use self-tanner to make themselves look darker). She said being Caucasian would work to my advantage. I like Lily a lot.

That evening I met Agnes in Wan Chai for happy hour drinks and dinner. (Note: Happy Hour in HK last 4 hours, from 5-9 p.m… so much better than the States). We were originally meeting to help me find housing, but since I signed for an apartment the night before we used our time to get to know each other better and explore cultural differences. Our topics included places we’ve traveled (Agnes has been almost everywhere), hobbies (Agnes enjoys dancing, music, and art), and family. Somehow we got on the topic of divorce payments. Agnes said in HK, if a man makes the most money and divorces his wife, he is required to pay for her until she remarries. If she never remarries then he pays for her for the rest of her life (or until he is no longer able to support her financially along with his new family).

For dinner Agnes brought me to one of her favorite places in Causeway Bay. The name of the restaurant literally translates to Snake King II. One of their specialties is snake soup. It’s popular in the wintertime because it is served very hot, but Agnes was adamant that I give it a try. The soup comes with five different kinds of snake and actually tasted pretty good. (My stomach felt a little queasy on the bus ride home though). She also pointed out that men are served their meals on plates, while women are served in bowls. Apparently this is universal in all authentic Chinese restaurants. I have trouble finishing the bowl portions, so there is no way I could possibly finish a plate portion. (Photos below are of me in front of the restaurant, snake soup, me after I tried the snake soup, and Agnes).

Other observations and fascinating things I’ve learned so far:

-Napkins do not exist. Women carry small packs of tissues around with them to be used for dabbing sweat and also to be used in the place of napkins at restaurants. When I ate out with Suk Yee and Agnes, I noticed they both took the tissues out of their purses to set on the dinner table. Western-style restaurants sometimes have cloth napkins, but they’re more for decoration than anything else. Tissues are still used to wipe one’s fingers.

-Chinese eat many courses. Suk Yee is ALWAYS refilling my bowl at meals and I can never keep up. It’s not for lack of deliciousness; it’s just that I get full too fast. I don’t want her to take offense so I blame it on my small stomach. I think she’s starting to understand… although maybe not. The only dish I’ve been able to finish so far is Chinese noodles because they’re not very filling, and now that I think about it, we’ve had Chinese noodles for the past three days since. :)

-You have to work for your chicken. Instead of taking out the bones and removing the skin like in the US, in HK it looks like they just throw an entire chicken in a wood chipper and put it on a plate (after cooking of course). You have to be very careful not to eat the bones, which is why chicken meals are usually provided with small bowls that you use to spit out the non-edible parts. I’ll be honest, it’s a lot of work to find some white meat… and when you’re doing it with chopsticks it’s virtually impossible.

-There are no bus maps. I’ve asked several people where I can find one and they all look at me like I’m crazy. Are HK people just born knowing which bus numbers correspond with all 100+ bus routes?! This is a challenge I am still trying to work out.

-Majority of HK’s population is either Catholic or Buddhist. Being Catholic is a kind of status symbol and commonly associated with the upper class.

-Construction workers use BAMBOO scaffolding. That seems incredibly dangerous to me, but the structures appear to be supportive. My better judgment still prevents me from walking under them though.

-Filipino women are employed as maids and nannies. Apparently they assume all “housewife and mother duties” for HK women that are working professionals. Their skin is often a little darker than Chinese women and they speak English.