Soho and Lan Kwai Fong

We had a great Mexican dinner in Soho (South of Hollywood Blvd, similar to the South of Houston concept in Soho, NYC) at a restaurant called i-Caramba!. I just thought of this now, and they will probably laugh, but I think the restaurant is just called Caramba with the upside down ! before and after it... i-Caramba has a better ring to it anyway.

We each had massive plates of delicioso Mexican food and margaritas. So so good. I cannot emphasize how good Mexican food and margaritas are when you can't have them all the time (like my weekly El Loro trips back home). Also, after experiencing Thai spicy food, I am no longer afraid of spicy Mexican.

After dinner we went to the hot spot Lan Kwai Fong for beers. More great people watching. Even on a Tuesday night it was pretty wild. People leave work and make their way up the Lan Kwai Fong hill stopping at endless bars and restaurants for happy hour, because let's face it, it's better than getting on that crowded train. Before you know it, happy hour drinks can easily turn into an all-night affair in this neighborhood. We took the ferry home and I took another bath and was a happy girl at the end of Day 2.

Stanley Market

Mare and I were up and at it early the next morning. We worked out at their uber nice fitness center (much nicer than the bad 80's flashback that is my gym). We took the ferry and then the double decker city bus out to the other side of HK island to Stanley Market. This is a cute little sunny area with shops and a boardwalk. The drive over was beautiful. We shopped around and stopped at a little stand where a man was selling name stamps, like something you'd use to sign a document. He said the characters for "Mia" are something that translates to "pretty Asian." I was amused by that, but not enough to buy it.

We had lunch at this great pizza place. I can't get over how much I love cheese, so this lunch was perfect. They even had Hoegaarden beer! We sat on the waterfront for awhile just enjoying this other kind of great view. The whole area reminded me more of Europe than Asia. Really a beautiful part of town. There are beaches to lay out in the sun, and I'm sure it's a nice getaway from all the people and chaos of the city, only a short bus ride away. We took the bus back to Central and walked around the city. Once again, I cannot get over how many people there are. Just incredibly dense and Mare and Doug pointed out that no one knows how to walk in an orderly fashion. Boy were they right. I noticed that right away. You never run out of places to do some serious people watching. The people watching was so intense my brain couldn't take it all; too many people...too much to see.

The View

Let's start from the very beginning... a very good place to start. (Kudos to you if you sang those last two lines a la Julie Andrews.) I arrived in Hong Kong, greeted by my aunt Mare. We took the train and bus back to her apartment. Their apartment is above this gorgeous shopping mall. Hong Kong really knows how to shop. When I told my friends in Thailand that I was going to HK, they replied, "Oh you're going shopping?" Anyway the apartment is absolutely beautiful. I was beside myself. Then I saw the floor to ceiling windows. Then I looked out the big windows. I started laughing it was so cool. The picture above is from ground level, but their view is exactly the same only 30 floors up. I'd need a pan-a-panoramic photo to get it all in; this is just a small part of the skyline that goes on and on.

I must be becoming more Thai because I remember events in terms of meals. We went down to their pier and had dinner at an English Pub-style restaurant. We sat outside and enjoyed the light show (more on that later) and the skyline and the water. I was finally able to catch up with Doug and Mare and they gave me a quick run down on their experience living in HK versus Japan and the differences between mainland China and Hong Kong (more on that later, too).

It was a lovely welcome and we went back to the apartment where a big bathtub was waiting for me! Mare had asked if I had any requests for when I arrived, and the big one was a bath. It was better than I expected! She even set me up with a basket of shampoos and soaps along with a candle. Not to mention the other goody basket on my nightstand filled with edible treats... What a welcome!

Back Home From Hong Kong

I heard a joke someone told about how great digital cameras are because you get to reminisce instantly. Take a picture, look at the screen and say "Awww! Look at us!"

I am going to instantly reminisce about Hong Kong. I just got home and once I get my bearings back I will be able to attempt to describe how fantastic my trip was and how wonderful my aunt and uncle are for hosting me. Words and pictures won't do it justice, but I will still give it a shot. There is too much to tell, but I will likely take the next few days to get all up to speed.

It was an amazing week. My first impressions of Hong Kong were:
"Wow, look at all the skyscrapers!"
"Wow, look at all the people!"
and the view from their apartment made me giggle from disbelief. It was the view.

Rainy Market

I was at the Sunday walking street tonight and it was more fun than usual. A few reasons why: I got there before 6pm and got to see everyone freeze in silence for the national anthem. Probably my favorite 30 seconds of the whole week. I could hear myself breathing. A moment after it ends a bomb of chaos goes off and everything is back to as it was. It's such a surreal moment no matter how many times I see it. Then I get a call from a friend and I happen to look east while talking to him and I can see him about 20 yards away so we say goodbye on the phone and then hello in person a few seconds later. After a meal with him, I kept on a-walkin the walking street. I stopped and chatted with a vendor and she told me my Thai was good! I have no idea why she said that because I only said a few things to her, but she made my night just by saying that. Her vendor friend even concurred. They were too nice. Here's where the fun comes in. As I'm walking along I feel a couple of rain drops on my face. Suddenly I notice a new kind of chaos. Immediately the vendors go into hyper speed and whip out these huge pieces of plastic out of nowhere and they cover their merchandise like they've done it a thousand times. It's a ripple effect and once one vendor sees their neighbor rainproofing their stand, then they take the hint and go into hyper speed too. It was a line of waterproof dominoes that collapsed at a faster pace than I could watch. Then the girls on the street do this odd thing where they start taking all of their personal belongings out of their purses and hold all their stuff in their hands. They take their now empty patent leather purses and put them on their heads like waterproof hats. I was laughing out loud as I walked behind this fashionable group of women with their big purse hats and makeup, keys, wallets in hand.

Off to Hong Kong in the morning!

Lucky Me

I am finished with semester one, and I have learned more about Thai culture in the last few days with regards to their grading system than I have since being here. I don't agree with the way they evaluate their students, and after biting knuckles and lips and gritting my teeth, I've come to understand that I can't change the system just because it doesn't align with my beliefs on how an education system should work. I come from a different culture. I am a guest here. I will follow by their rules. My impression is that the grading system is based on looking for flaws in student's work rather than finding accomplishments. They see it as being objective. If a student's written work doesn't match a particular formula, they are given a score based on what the single person who made the answer key thinks the correct response should be. My question is since when is there an answer key for an exam that asks students to write an essay? In any case, I got sliced at the knees for my approach in grading my students, so I held my tongue and did it their way. I only wish they would have more faith in their teachers to evaluate their students. It's the first major cultural difference I've been directly involved in. Even though I'm not happy with the final exam and grading process, it makes me that much more motivated to really give my students a great experience in the classroom next semester.

I am now officially on holiday from CMU. I still teach my SAT students which is a joy, and I don't even consider it 'work.' I am incredibly lucky because not only do I love what I do to pay the bills, I love having lots of time to do whatever suits my fancy. My life is a big vacation, and I even get a vacation in Hong Kong on top of it. I am so excited to get to Hong Kong tomorrow to see my family. When I initially arrived in Chiang Mai, every new day felt as if I was a 'traveler'. I've crossed that threshold and now that I truly feel like I live here, that this is my home for the time being, it's such a treat to become the 'traveler' again. I love airports and big backpacks.

Names

Thai nicknames are fun, but so are regular Thai names. During a coffee house grading party, we started to talk about our students, naturally. This led into talking about their names, and the prize for best named students goes to the teacher with a boy named Buchit (pronounced with an oo and sh) and a girl named Tittiporn. Nothing can top that.