Week One

Today marks my first week in Hong Kong. Although it's been kind of hectic and unsettling, it's been a pretty good week.

1. Arrival and Soho apartment

The plane ride was incredibly long and I couldn't feel my legs by the end of the flight, but I survived it. I was seated in the middle aisle and was too short to see the movies they were playing. I mostly paced around the back of the plane to get some circulation going. My ipod saved me from going crazy. Upon arrival, I found my cousin (who is from the mainland, near Guangzhou) and we found our way back to my apartment, which is located in the Soho area of HK island. It was great to see my cousin again and I'm surprised I recognized her after seven years. The apartment, which I share with another Fulbright grant student (Andy), is pretty nice. Of course, the bedrooms are a typical HK size (like NYC), but we have a great kitchen and living room space. We met up with the other Fulbrighters, Helen and Alley, and had dinner at this Mexican place called Taco Loco in our neighborhood. Soho is known for its great restaurants, including different kinds of food -- there are tons of Italian, Mexican, American, Chinese, etc. around here. PLUS, we're located right by the Mid-Levels/Central escalator, the world's largest, which takes us easily to the Central MTR subway station. The escalator is kind of weird though; it only goes one way during certain hours of the day. It goes down until about 10:30 in the morning and then up the rest of the day. I definitely experienced some vertigo. But it's a great, free way to move around and it's also fun to see all the buildings as you go up.



Andy and I moved our new used couch up the street a couple of blocks and up an elevator. We had to take two trips. With narrow sidewalks and people, it was an adventure.

2. Sleep? What's sleep?

The time difference is pretty harsh. Right now it's 10:45 in the morning here and 10:45 at night in New York. Needless to say, I had some bad jet lag and found it really difficult to sleep. I was cracked out most of the time and feeling pretty unhealthy. During my first two days, I also had some stomach sickness (which might have been food poisoning) and stayed mostly in bed, trying desperately to sleep. I would wake up at random hours of the day, mostly at 3am or 5am and would read in bed or call Dan. It's amazing how busy the city is at these early hours... from my window, I can hear trucks going by, people talking, and even see women shaking out wet laundry from their windows. Dizzy, tired, and appetite-less, I unfortunately did not get to spend a lot of time hanging out with my cousin. But, there is an end to that story and, just a few days ago, I slept mostly through the night!

3. Causeway Bay & Mong Kok

My cousin and I went to Causeway Bay (where Helen has an apartment) and Mong Kok to do some shopping. It was a hectic and busy scene, full of neon signs, so many shops, and people on the street trying to give/sell you things. In Causeway Bay, we went to the Ikea, which is right by Fashion Walk, which is the really upscale shopping part (with Prada, Miss Sixty, and Chloe). Ikea was overwhelming and I think I did more walking around in a stupor than shopping. Causeway Bay also has a Times Square, which was really interesting, considering its New York counterpart. Like New York, it was flashy and full of people to the point where you couldn't see the other side of the street. We went to Mong Kok on Wednesday, which is located in Kowloon. Things are a bit cheaper in Kowloon (except Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong) and you know how I like cheap and free things. We walked around a good deal and wandered into tiny shopping malls and then streets that only sold wallpaper and lights. There was also a store opening with dancing dragons on poles. I ate a ridiculously large bowl of spicy Japanese noodle soup, which only cost HK$30, or around $4 in U.S. It's immediately apparent how shopping centered Hong Kong is. It seems are if everyone shops, all day long. It's pretty overwhelming, even for a Jersey semi-mall rat.

4. International Writers Workshop


On Tuesday morning, I went to Kowloon Tong to visit Prof. Chung, the director of the International Writers Workshop at HKBU. It was great to talk to her and Jennifer Ho, who organizes/runs the program. I learned more about the fall workshop and the visiting writers. The international workshop is similar to its counterpart at the University of Iowa, except there is a theme to each workshop at HKBU. This year the theme is Writing the Sea (I'm sure Josh would love that). Considering my major love for Melville, this was a pretty good time to come to Hong Kong. The writers should be arriving in the first week of October and I will then be involved in lots of conferences, symposiums, and readings (which also include Pulitzer Prize winning journalists). I'm excited! Prof. Chung actually invited me to their committee meeting that afternoon and I was honored to be there as an "associate" (even though I felt pretty sick and tired at the time). Also, I'm planning on meeting members of the Hong Kong Writers Circle at the Fringe Club tomorrow (Monday) night, so I'm looking forward to that too. The Fringe Club is an art venue, which hosts live performances, art classes, and poetry readings the first Wed. of every month. Alley (a Fulbrighter filmmaker) and I have decided that Hong Kong is not a "desert of art/culture"! It's not just banks and investment firms here... at least, not for long!

5. Food

Delicious and varied. Familiar and unfamiliar. My cousin and I went to this noodle shop right by my apartment and quickly discovered that it was a local famous favorite of sorts, according to the many newspaper and magazine articles about their noodles and dumplings on the wall. All their noodles are homemade and you can even see the owners make them! The best noodles I've had so far. The service is a little questionable though; we waited fifteen minutes to get the check because the owners - an old married couple - were having a personal argument! Noodles were flung, tense silences were kicked about, and our check was nowhere to be found. I've also had some decent Mexican food and Japanese noodle soup. Oh, and really good mango cake! Since I eat most of these dishes at home, nothing has been much of a shock, but I am missing some American foods & snacks. Which is strange since, while I was at Bard, my mom would have to send me Chinese snacks and candy through the mail... here, I'm hoping for some American food.

6. Public Transportation, or I Love Sea Creatures like the Octopus

Like many people here, I love the public transportation system, especially the MTR subway system. It's so so clean and efficient -- much better than NYC (I tend to compare Hong Kong to NYC... maybe because it's similar in many ways). People are so respectable and it's easy to find your way around. All the signs are in both Chinese and English. And there's something called the Octopus card, which is kind of like the NYC version of the Metrocard, only better. You can fill up your Octopus card whenever and you don't have to take out your card from your purse. It reads it automatically. You can even use the Octopus card at 7 Eleven stores. It's relatively easy to get around the city and even across the island to Kowloon island.

7. Fulbright Reception & Night Out in Wan Chai

On Thursday night, we met up up with the Fulbright ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) and senior Fulbrighters (professionals, professors) at a Fulbright dinner reception hosted by the U.S. Consulate. The briefing or informational session was kind of confusing (then again, Andy and I showed up late since we couldn't find a taxi), but many of the officials there are really great, friendly people. The dinner was held at this private room and had numerous courses including a beautiful peach colored bun dessert with sweet lotus paste inside. Afterwards, some of the ETAs and the full grants went out to Wan Chai to a bar called Heat... where it was ladies night! I've never been to a ladies night before, but free drinks sounds good to me. We talked and danced quite a bit -- it was great to unwind and meet new people. I'm excited to hang out with the ETAs again. Also, it was Andy's 22nd birthday, so cheers to that!



8. Repulse Bay at 3am

On Friday night, Alley and her roommate Josy and I took the bus from Central to Repulse Bay, a pretty famous beach in Hong Kong (and where all the very expensive high rises are). The bus was incredibly bumpy and more like an amusement park ride than anything else. It was really great to go to the beach at night since there were only a few people and the perfect place to unwind and relax on the shore. It was completly different from any beach I've experienced. The sand was larger, rougher. Like sugar. The city, with all its lights (sometimes, I mistake them for stars) curled around the water. The boats on the water are also lit up. Josy lives such a romantic life and it was great to hear all her stories. I'm a bit too anal to live my life without knowing what I'll be doing tomorrow or next week, or next year, but it was refreshing to meet someone who does just that. We ended up staying there until 3:30am... which is crazy. Luckily, we found a mini bus that was passing by and took that to Causeway Bay. I've never been on a faster bus. It kept gunning red lights and I knew then why the penalty for not wearing your seatbelt was so high. Also, there were so many teenager/young people out and about at 4 and 5am. Truly, Hong Kong is the city that never sleeps.



9. Shek O Beach

Andy, Helen, Helen's roommate Kelly and some of her friends from William and Mary, and I went to Shek O Beach yesterday. Since I stayed out at Repulse Bay so late the night before (I didn't get to bed until 5am), I had a pretty slow start to the day. So Andy and I made it to the beach maybe around 4pm. It also took us a long time to get there by MTR and bus. The bus was lots of fun though; we rode on the top part (the buses are double decker like in London) and saw the mountains and buildings from all the winding roads. It was really exciting to be away from the city area and more into natural areas of the island. Trails and trees (the bus kept smacking into tree branches) galore. The beach itself is really small, but lots of fun. There are tons of people playing volleyball (without a net) and even places where you can barbeque on the beach. From the beach, you can see a bunch of little islands. Helen and her friends headed out earlier, but Andy and I stayed later since we got there so late in the first place. Andy went for a run and I just relaxed and wrote a little as the sun went down. It was absolutely beautiful and it took me a long time to figure out why... it was because I could actually see a blue sky! Because of the pollution in the city, I haven't seen the sky in days. After Andy got back, we had dinner at this restaurant, Kitchen By the Sea, which was really, really delicious. Pineapple sweet and sour pork and salty/thousand year old egg with vegetables. I don't know why, but it made me so happy to be in this Chinese beach town/village. I kept thinking about the Jersey shore and the town of Sea Bright and how incredibly different it was here. How much more real it was here. People just took things slow and easy... at home, the beach was always surrounded by annoying teenage tanners on their cell phones. The restaurant itself was so vibrant and full of people talking. Food and bowls were everywhere and it seemed as if two guys were running the entire place. I never wanted to speak Cantonese so badly. I wanted to be part of those families and friends. I wanted to be Chinese. It's possible, but it will definitely take some work.