Hong Kong

I realize I'm a crap blogger at this point; so much for those goals I'd made. But here we go, third attempt at keeping a regular blog....

August was a crazy month. I spent three weeks in the States, and came back to China with absolutely no plans. All I knew was I needed to end up in Dalian by the end of the month, since school started September 1st and I hadn't even registered with the new university yet.

I ended up just buying a round trip plane ticket to Shenzhen, and decided to let everything between the flight dates just happen. Turned out, I had a better time than I could have possibly planned. I stayed with a friend for over a week at his place; for the majority of those days we commuted daily into Hong Kong. It's about ten dollars round trip; twenty if you choose the first class metro seats.

The walk into Hong Kong is very anti-climactic though; you walk through this hallway, like those you find between airport parking lots and the actual airport, and in about four minutes you have officially arrived at Hong Kong Immigration. The first two days I actually was held up at Border Security because they couldn't figure out what the "C" in "Edna C Zhou" meant. On the plus side, my passport now looks like a proper passport should; it has red entry and departure stamps all over the place, I've like two blank pages left.

After that minor delay I was free to explore Hong Kong. The Metro system there is fabulous; at every major stop they have a giant map that details the local attractions nearby and through which exit you can reach them. E would head into work about nine every morning, which left me free to explore until lunch. After we met for lunch I would explore some more, then we would have drinks, a nice dinner, maybe explore some more of Hong Kong at night, and then cross back over the border.

I loved all of Hong Kong. Besides the fact that I'm an Anglophile and a big city girl- people are friendly, service is fantastic, there's very little pushing, everyone speaks English (even the taxi drivers), there's no spitting on the streets, people stand on the right side of the escalators to let people walk on the right....the only downside I could find was they speak Cantonese, which, in my opinion, is very unpleasant to listen to.
However, the rest of Hong Kong more than made up for that- even though wining and dining is expensive, the other attractions are fairly cheap, and very varied and abundant.

There's the city itself on display, which is always free and fun, like the Avenue of Stars or seeing Victoria Harbor at night. There's also places like my favorite spot in Hong Kong- The Peak, also known as Victoria Peak, the top of a mountain you can access by tram, from which you overlook all of the city. Roundtrip tram tickets cost 50 Hong Kong dollars (6.40 USD), and entry to the Sky Terrace- the roof of the buliding- is 20 HKD (2.50 USD). On those rainier days I spent a fair bit of time in the museums; a week pass for all the Hong Kong Musems (of History, of Science, of Art, etc) only cost 30 HKD.

Another favorite spot I decided to check out on my own was Ngong Ping, which is in the western part of Lantau Island-a 30 minute fast ferry and 45 minute bus ride cost about 50 HKD. The giant Tian Tan Buddha sits there, with the Po Lin Monastery and its vegetarian restaurant at the base. At the edge of Ngong Ping Village is Ngong Ping 360, a 30 minute cable car ride that takes you across to Tung Chung at the edge of the Island. It's convenient because TC is also a metro stop that easily takes you back to Hong Kong Island. A one way ticket cost 58 HKD, and it was worth every bit- the cable cars cross over all these massive green hills where the giant Buddha can be seen at a distance, as well as bodies of water (I have no idea which ones) and finally it comes over the last peak, where you see the edge of Lantau Island and all this development and modernity again. I was the only one in my cable car and I must've looked like a mental hamster in a wheel; I kept going in circles round the car because the view all around was so spectacular.

E also made sure I had a good time, since he was my host. After being stuck in a friend's house all day on an unexpected Typhoon 8 day, we decided to go to the Palace Theatre in the IFC Mall to watch The Dark Knight. That scene in the movie where Batman jumps off the giant building in Hong Kong? That's the IFC Building. It was kind of surreal, Batman jumping from the same location that I was sitting comfortably in, watching him jump on the big screen.

The night of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, we headed to Stanley, at the southeastern edge of Hong Kong Island. We watched the water and sat the pier for a while, then had some drinks until 8 pm, when the ceremony started. Everyone was absolutely entranced, the air was warm and electric; I personally was on cloud nine. After all the controversy and all the lead up, the Olympics had finally started- and not only was I in China to experience the hype, I was in Hong Kong, one of the most fantastic, cosmopolitan, international places on Earth!

Probably the best day of the whole trip was the Sunday two days after that. E and I went into the city, and I decided to wear a summer dress I'd picked up when I was home- an orange and brown halter that I knew I had to have the moment I saw it on the Wildwood Boardwalk. When we arrived in the city it was lunch time, so we went for dim sum at this classy restuarant- the best dim sum I've ever had. Fresh and succulent, it raised the bar so high I probably won't ever be satisfied in any measly US Chinatown. We then went for true Italian coffee at Segafredo Zanetti, where I continued my food binge with the tastiest, frothiest cappuccino I've never had (and I like to think I make a mean cappuccino at work). All while in this dress, feeling fabulous.

We then started walking for the Peak, but when we saw the hour long line for the tram, we decided to grab a taxi. The first driver wanted no less than 80 dollars, and refused to run the meter. The next person we tried quoted us "maybe 50" and ran the meter without us asking, so though it was only 40 HKD to the top, I gave him 50 anyway. We walked around a bit, taking pictures, staring out at the city, and timed going up to the Sky Terrace just right so that we saw the skyline as the sun was setting, then watched the lights switch on until the whole of Hong Kong was fluorescent and glimmering. It seemed silly to be so awestruck at something wholly manmade, but for a city girl, it was the pinnacle of urbanity, the ultimate display; the very soul of Hong Kong reflected in those lights.

To finish off the evening, E treated me to Wagyu, a restaurant that was good for a half casual, half fancy dinner but where I also felt like I belonged in the dress; I wouldn't have walked there in just jeans and a T-shirt. We didn't make a reservation so while we waited for a table, we went across the street for drinks with Olympic diving playing on the televisions. Once seated back at Wagyu, we started with a beef carpaccio appetizer that felt like it melted in my mouth; it was then followed by the juiciest, flakiest salmon with buttery mashed red potatoes. I felt so spoiled, having the best food I'd ever tasted all in one day; like I was on a constant stream of culinary nirvana. I can't imagine what it's like to be a food critic.

Everyone I know who's gone to Hong Kong claims there is just something about the city that makes it indescribably cool. I was completely enamored after only a couple days, but for different, hard to pinpoint reasons compared to why I love Shanghai. It has an incredible juxtaposition of nature and city, history and modernity, culture and wildness; all living side by side, something for everyone. I'd fallen in love with Hong Kong so fast I didn't want to leave when it was time to head back to the airport. (Though actually, my flight was cancelled so I didn't leave til a day later, but I stuck that one out in Shenzhen.)

It was also the first time in my life I didn't look at price tags but just did whatever I wanted to do. I hung out with awesome people- E and his English friends mainly- saw fantastic sights, enjoyed amazing food, and just had an overall incredible time...I never felt more carefree and at ease than during that week. On top of that, or perhaps because of it, I loved the feeling that I wasn't just a tourist; with E and his friends I felt like I was an international, debonair woman...even if it was an illusion for just a few short days. That week, I felt nowhere near a 19 year old student on her holidays.

Productive start to August

Sadly, today I have spent entirely on uploading pictures to facebook. I finally finished the week of May Holiday, and am now only three months behind on photos instead of four, wooo! Though I'd like to clarify it only took so many hours because the computer I'm using is incredibly slow, Not because I'm a moron. Plus I make sure everything is in chronological order, tagged properly, etc....I'd say my albums are pretty stellar.

Yesterday was much more exciting; Kelly and her parents took me to Zhouzhuang Village, an hour and a half outside of Shanghai. Though they'd all been there before, none of them recognized the place when we arrived because it's now become so commercialized; whatever was there previously (probably houses) has been replaced by stands of small stores, each selling the same touristy junk. Even after we passed through the official entrance, we still saw nothing for a while but crap shops and stands selling the famous local dish, pigs' hooves.

Once we actually reached the village it was pleasant enough to walk through; in older times it was a water-way town, think mini-Venice. Don't feel it was worth the 100 rmb ticket, but I guess it's a worth-seeing-at-least-once kind of thing. The bridges and streams and old houses were excellent for trying artsy stuff with my camera- working with different lighting and angles, black&whites, that sort of thing. I imagine it used to be incredibly relaxing to live there, along the water, before the tourists started coming (and being artsy all over the place). Then for dinner, they offered to take me to a really nice Korean restaurant since I mentioned I enjoyed Korean food after living in Dalian for a semester. I fell asleep in the car and when I woke up....we were outside Ben Jia!! I hadn't realized they were a chain, I just thought they only had the Dalian branch because of the Little Korea there....

After being dropped off at home I enjoyed a long, cold shower (out all day in the Shanghai heat, not pleasant), then went to The Hut to chill for a couple hours. Accurately described to me as 'the dive bar of dive bars,' it eased me back into the expat scene- which I sadly don't plan on becoming a big part of when I return to Dalian. Should've saved the shower for after The Hut though...I decided I'd walk home since the apartment was a few blocks away, but with the winds gone, even at midnight it was about 85% humidity, making it feel like 90 F (thank you, weather channel).

So I've got a few relatives here, who(m?) I've been somewhat ignoring all day; they're saying goodbyes to my eldest aunt and middle aunt who leave for the States tomorrow. Funny thing is I postponed my trip to Shenzhen so I could see the bunch, yet I've spent maybe ten minutes total in the same room as them (dinner) and then leave before they do tomorrow morning for the airport. I rationalize it that they'd be discussing people and things I don't know about anyway, and all in Chinese that's above my level. But to be honest, I also don't feel like talking about what my goals in life are and what I'm doing with my future because that's where the conversation always ends up. No surprise, they're the relatives on my dad's side. Plus my baby cousin is here and I really don't like children. They're always sticky, they're always throwing stuff, and they're so gosh darn needy.

As for Shenzhen, I leave out of Hongqiao tomorrow; got an 8:20 flight and E's picking me up at the airport at noon. My father got pissed cause he's a concrete planner and I'm a go with the flow-er, so after a week of arguing about travel ideas he told me I'm on my own and that I'll just have to "beg" for money from him when I return to Shanghai. I'm pretty sure I can make my 4500 rmb last eight days in Shenzhen, even with three or four daily trips into Hong Kong and saving some for my big weekend with Carol in Shanghai when I return. It's almost 650 USD, I think I've got bigger problems if I blow that much in a week.

WYR is slowly disappearing

The typhoon winds are continuing to breeze through Shanghai, which alleviates the humidity a bit and makes it quite pleasant to go outside. Last night Kelly and I went to the Bund to see the lights- a sight I'm still not sick of after over 15 years of summers here. They tore down the winding road with the great view of the Bund back in February, and have replaced it with a walking bridge that connects both sides of the street (previously, you had to cross underneath). It was gorgeous, as always, but somehow the combination of a warm summer night and the lights on the Bund was made infinitely better by the breeze. Honestly, I found it just as relaxing as when I was on the top deck of the cruise ship on the Yangtze, watching the Three Gorges pass us by on both sides. One of those moments that you let sink in, while you just sit and appreciate the beauty in life. Well, the beauty in China at least; I haven't seen much else to make a proper comparison.

All that beauty-soaking made it all the more depressing when I arrived back at Wuyuan Road and it hit me, like it does every time I come back, how Western the neighborhood is becoming. I remember summers here when I was younger, the lane would always be bustling before the sun even rose with street sweepers and fresh vegetable peddlers. Now the entire block where the little family shops were are a mess of concrete, while staring from across the street are endless dress shops trying to appeal to the foreigners living in the area with what they perceive to be current fashions. You see those cliche pictures of rapid growth in Shanghai and it's some gigantic silver building shooting into the clouds and in the foreground is a pile of rubble? That's my neighborhood.

Every time I come back, the Western-ness increases...three weeks ago when I left for the States, there was a dress shop on the corner that just went out of business. Yesterday when I passed by it again, there was this suave new cafe being renovated out of that shop, it looks ready to open in a few days. One lane over from where I live is Club Bonbon and Huaihai Lu, so foreigners are always spotted walking those streets...yet on my street, you still mainly see the Chinese who've had these apartments for over half a century, like my family. We actually look like the minority here.

It's not comfortable, not by Western standards. One room encompasses bedroom, spare guest room, living room and dining room, with a communal kitchen and bathroom shared by all on our floor. However, the location of our place can't be beat- 3 subway stops from People's Square on Line 1; people would pay good money to live here save for the conditions. That's why I'm always terrified they'll decide to level the entire lane one day to make way for more Western establishments. They've been creeping in for the last few years, and now only one apartment, literally no more than 20 feet, separates that new cafe from the old neighborhood ladies who do tai chi at 8 am every morning.

I'm back...

...but I'd rather not be.

Maybe it's the way I left things at home, or maybe it's that I don't have anything to do here, but if I'm going to be doing nothing I'd rather be doing nothing in the States. At least there, I've got American television and my car. Here, I've got Olympics excitement practically slapping me across the face and Chinese traffic deterring me from wanting to really go anywhere.

The trip over wasn't so bad; the check-in guy was the same one who'd checked me in back in January, so we struck up a conversation and next thing I know he's handing me a new ticket at the gate and tells me, "I upgraded your ticket"- first class to Chicago! Then on the flight to Shanghai I found he'd placed me in the very first row in economy- plenty of leg room and a tv screen right in front of my face, with none of the responsibility of sitting in an exit row. I've never had a better 22 hours traveling. Certainly beats the 22 hours I spent on that bus to Taiyuan.
(However the taxi driver at the airport was upset with me; he said the drivers there wait five, six hours for a customer and I should've told him where I was going before he started driving cause he wouldn't make enough going to my destination. And my trip from the airport cost almost 100 kuai!)

So for this next month: originally the plans were a week each in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai before going to Dalian. Now one by one all my plans are going to crap. Beijing's been scrapped (don't want to deal with that madness anyway) which leaves me with two weeks open in Shanghai, post-Shenzhen. However, I've been on travel sites for the last two hours trying to plan the latter trip and still have no true inkling when I'm leaving or coming back.

This is because my two aunts and cousin are leaving for the States on Sunday, and while I'm extremely happy for them that their visas were approved, I'm expected to stay at the Wu Yuan Road apartment until they arrive to say my goodbyes. I planned on leaving Friday evening for Shenzhen, but upon my arrival this morning at WYR I'm told no one's arriving til Saturday at the earliest. Mum says I can go ahead and leave Fri but please. I was raised with some sense of Chinese manners- I'd lose FACE for putting travel ahead of family. Good ol' face, the cornerstone it seems of all Chinese relationships.

Anyway so now I'm slightly peeved but mostly bored. What do I do for the next three days?? Again, if I'm going to be bored I'd rather be bored at my other aunt's place, with my own room, air con, WiFi and an ayi. Here, I feel guilty for asking them to put on the air con, am treated like I'm 12, practically force-fed every meal, and my laptop becomes nothing more than a glorified personal DVD player. At least I don't need the air con right now because of all the thunderstorms- the weather's actually quite windy and pleasant, an unusual statement for the end of July in Shanghai.

I should probably go out somewhere, but I've done all the sightseeing, minus some less popular sights like Sun Yat Sen's residence and the Shanghai Library. Besides, right now there are so many foreigners bustling about for the Olympics out there I'd rather take a nap. All the business of trying to figure out exact flight dates and times for the Shenzhen trip have worn me out, as well as the bleak prospects for the next three days. Those who know me know my biggest pet peeve is time-wasting*, yet it seems that's all I'm going to be doing....


*Those who know me would also argue I do a lot of time wasting. The distinction here is that I despise Unnecessary time wasting; time that is wasted because plans are up in the air, not time that is wasted because I don't feel like doing anything.

Bad Timing

Honestly, I don't think there is a single day that would be worse for me to leave than Monday, because I have so much unfinished business here in York.

If I hadn't spent almost a week in Jersey and Philly, I think I'd be ready to return. But when you spend one week, in the middle of three, on vacation from your vacation....the other two weeks just feel wasted. The first week I was terribly jetlagged so I spent a lot of valuable family time napping, and since I got back from Jersey/Philly, it's felt like a prepare-for-the-trip-back week. There are so many friends that I have not had a chance to see, and I've seen my family even less than my friends.

Of course, the fight with my father has done nothing to improve the family bonding situation. I only saw my sister for an hour on her birthday on Friday, for which I will feel awful about for a long time to come. I've started spending every night at Ryan/Lys/Nikol's apartment, so when I went back today to start packing, my mother and I had words. I've never seen her so disappointed in me, but it can't be resolved before 5 am Monday morning. Over 10 years of pent up issues do not become unraveled in 30 hours. Plus I'm just not at that stage in my life where I feel like I can put the past in the past and suddenly open up to my mother. How do I explain to my mother who I am, when I'm still trying to figure that out and it's changing on a monthly basis?

I also have no idea what I'm going to do once arriving in Shanghai. Whose house am I staying in, and for how long? If I stay with my aunt in Pudong, I most likely won't be able to venture out at all because her villa is so isolated. If I stay in my grandmother's apartment in the heart of the city, I'll go slightly mad of a humidity/over-concerned relatives combination. I've scrapped Beijing out of my August plans but do I still have the money after going to Shenzhen to tour the cities close to Shanghai? Hell, am I even still going to Shenzhen?? I'm really a go-with-the-flow kind of gal, so I wish I'd booked a hostel for my time in Shanghai, just to have for whatever the days and nights end up bringing.

In comparison to wanting to see my friends and settle things with my parents, this last reason's more selfish but...my laptop's gone haywire and I wanted it fixed before I left. Lately it's been loading only Skype and a few random sites (yet not Facebook or Google) so I uninstalled Firefox with the goal of reinstalling it, but after I did that it just went mad and nothing is reliably working anymore. I want to just reboot the entire system but I need to find my drivers first, which thanks to my mother's packing methods are hopelessly lost in the boxes in the garage that contain my entire life pre-China.

Though going to the Jersey Shore was definitely what I needed to finally relax, if I had just one more week, seven measly days, I could gain so much more out of this "recharging trip" that I'd originally planned. I'd see more friends, go shopping with my mother, eat at Texas Roadhouse, try out the Wii my sister got for her birthday, eat at least one sit-down meal with my family, play tennis and go running....

I feel like I've not done right by a lot of people these last 19 days, and when I next return to York it will be 2009, it will be winter, I will have two cousins and an aunt living in my parents' house, and I will be a second semester Junior in college. From half a year in China I felt like I grew so much as person, in light of the ups and despite the downs...now I feel disappointed in myself again, kicking myself for lost opportunities with people and not knowing who I am or what I want in life. Something about being here seems to always do that to me, perhaps it's best I leave? Even if I am leaving only to face completely sketchy Shanghai plans.

Starting Over

I don't know why exactly I stopped writing. In fact, so much has happened in the last three months that I wouldn't even know where to start, were I to catch up from April 24th on.

What I do know, however, is that I have missed blogging. I read through my old entries and wish I'd kept with it, if anything just to laugh at my predictions for the future. The only excuse I have (and it isn't much of one at all) is that so much was happening, so fast, that I felt overwhelmed by it all and eventually gave up on blogging about it and focused on just surviving life in Dalian.

SO! I have decided to bring back the blog. I am spending another semester in Dalian, another five months in China altogether starting on Monday, and my first step in the grand scheme of my life is to outline some goals. (Hey, baby steps.)

1. In the next five months, I want to update at least three times a week (when internet access is available)
2. I want to focus less on making money and socializing and more on becoming proficient in Chinese.
3. I want to seriously consider taking the HSK.
4. I want to NOT know exactly what I want to do, but perhaps do research into grad schools or other career paths post-graduation.
5. I want to spend no more than 500 kuai a week (~70 USD)
6. I want to talk to my sister at least once a week.

==

For those who are interested, a brief recap of the last three months:
-May Holiday was a week on the Yangtze River, and a day in Chongqing/Dazu and a few hours in Beijing, during which I really started to become close with Andy Z and Leanna
-I returned to training with the Dalian Wolfhounds Gaelic Football Team
-Celebrated Cinco de Mayo with Kathleen and some close friends
-Sichuan Earthquake hit on May 12 and while we were about as far away in China as possible, it was extremely impressive how the country reacted
-My expat friends started getting stopped for visas and passports quite frequently
-Went to a housewarming party of another friend...became very social in general
-Went back to Beijing the weekend of the 16-18 with BCA again, met with Etowners
-Cancelled my trip to Shanghai for my birthday and celebrated with friends in Dalian
-However, because of the 3 day bar ban that resulted from the May 12 Sichuan Earthquake the week before we didn't really have anywhere to go after dinner
-Went to Beijing for the All China Gaelic Games June 6-8 => so far, the best weekend of my life
-My father visited the second week of June and after seeing Binhai Lu and Xinghai Square, loved the city
-Started tutoring a Korean student in Math and English for the Dalian minimum: 150 rmb/21.50 USD an hour
-A friend opened up a bar/restaurant called Brooklyn that is doing extremely well among the expats
-Come June, everyone started leaving! Expat turnover in smaller cities like Dalian is constant
-Finals were a mess! I really lost focus the last two weeks of the semester
-Went to Shanghai July 6th, met some friends, left the 9th back to the States
-Since being back in the States, haven't done much, but did go to Cape May, NJ to stay with Andy Z for a few days, then stopped in Philly on the way home to visit Amiekay for a night as well
-Yesterday was my sister's 12th birthday, but my father and I have had huge issues discussing my Future so I am currently living with Lys, Ryan and Nikol in their new apartment and feel bad about not being close to my sister
-Was not wanting to go back to China because of pre-Olympic madness, but since row with father, don't really know where I want to be right now. The US has my friends, but I can't stay at home; while Shanghai is extremely humid and housing is tricky...was going to travel but now don't know since my funds are low and my parents might not want to help me with expenses anymore....

So that's a decent, if not brief, overview of what my life has become in Dalian and the summer so far. I'll write more in the morning, I'm exhausted from the last two days of family drama.