3 Month Mark

So I’m a little late, but I’ve passed the 3-month mark and have less than 4 weeks left here in Hong Kong! How time flies!

Classes end this week and then come finals! I have 3 exams (one is actually this week, on the last day of class) and then one on the 9^th and one on the 13^th; a paper due the 6^th and another due the 16^th and then about 5 days to enjoy Hong Kong some more and pack. {I’m actually not worried about fitting everything in my suitcase. I am pretty sure I will have plenty of room since I don’t have 4 months of pump supplies to pack.}

I’m excited to go home. I’ve definitely enjoyed my time abroad but 4 months is the perfect length to be away.

It’s still warm here, weather wise. It’s been in the 70s for the most part; therefore, I am still in shorts and t-shirts. It will be such a dramatic change when I land in JFK on December 22 (which reminds me—Mom, you should probably bring a jacket for me since I’m pretty sure my light sweater won’t do any good!). The sudden temperature change will be crazy but I’m starting to miss wearing winter clothes.

I’m starting to get sick of rice. I never really loved white rice. At home, whenever my mom made rice with dinner she always had to make two kinds- white rice for my sisters and rice pilaf for my dad and I. I’ve always found white rice to be rather plain and dry and being here has just confirmed that. So whenever I get white rice here (which, as I am sure you expect is at most meals) I always try and combine it with some sort of sauce or main dish just to add some flavor to it. It’s been working but it’s getting kind of old. But I have discovered the art of cooking a potato in the microwave. I forgot how much I loved baked potatoes.

3 months in and I still don’t know how to walk in public though. Literally, I have no idea which side is the correct side to walk in. But it’s okay, because I don’t think the locals do either or it’s not a big deal to them because they just walk all over the place. And I am still struggling with the language barrier. There’s this one lady at the canteen who doesn’t understand English. So when she sees me in line, she usually asks the student ahead of me to wait and translate for her. It’s great and I always laugh it off. But the language situation in the classroom has drastically improved and for the better. It’s been nice being able to have discussion with the local students (even though discussions are more like Q and A’s rather than discussions).

The list that I created while driving to NYC in August, of things I wanted to see and do while in Hong Kong is slowly dwindling- just about 7 things left! But I’ve scheduled time/days for all of them. Things left to do include, but are not limited to: Macau (next weekend), Tea at the Peninsula Hotel (sometime during Finals), the Peak at night (again, during Finals), Happy Valley Horseracing (some Wednesday night?) and the Wetland Park.

AHHH! Only 25 more days! But that means I’ve been here for over 100 days already! I don’t know which is harder for me to believe- that I only have 25 days left or that I’ve been here for 102 days?