Here are some random facts/thoughts that others may find interesting. Or not.
- Dogs wear clothes here. Seriously, they are better dressed than me. I have seen maybe six dogs without clothes on. All the other ones are dressed in various sweaters and raincoats and boots. While there are not many dogs here, since small living spaces make it difficult, there ARE dogs. Also, eatings dogs is illegal in HK. Not that I eat the meat anyways.
- Chopsticks are used 24/7. I swear some people can eat soup with chopsticks. They can cut meat and vegetables with them. Chopsticks are basically magic wands around here. I am still working on picking up rice, but I am starting to get the hang of it. I am one of the >1% who is not an expert chopstick user so it is time to catch up. Forks and knives aren't handed to you unless you ask and nothing screams "FOREIGNER" like asking for a fork. Also when you ask for a napkin, you usually get handed a roll of toilet paper.
- I can try, but I will never be able to take more pictures than Asians do, and I take a lot. Everything is a photo opportunity, even in class. My professors take pictures all the time, and all these professional photographers come in with fancy cameras to take them. I have never seen any of the 100 pictures taken of me in the first two weeks (100 might even be too low an estimate) so I am not sure what the Asians do with all the pictures. Asians even take pictures of the international students. I have caught people in corners with their iPhones aimed at us, and the braver ones will just outright ask for a picture. So who knows, maybe my face will be on a HK billboard soon?
- There are a lot of exchange/international students in HK in general, not just at PolyU. I know this because we are magnetic. Only the internationals go to LKF and most of the bars (for Ladies' Nights and Pub Crawls) and Tequila Jack's (the Mexican spot) and Mr. Wong's (the sketchiest all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink place so I commend the locals on never going there). About 35 PolyU exchange students when to Mr. Wong's the other night and we bumped into two other big groups of international students from other universities. The excitement in seeing another group of exchange is unreal. I love how much we love each other.
- I basically sleep on a piece of wood. My mattress is four inches thick, but who wants to sleep here anyways? Luckily, I am short because I know quite a few Europeans who do not even fit in their beds.
- Despite all the changes: the slow elevators (elevators in a building with 21 floors are not as fast as those in the four story buildings back home), the strange meat and all of my 8:30 am classes after late nights out with friends, I wouldn't want to change where I am for the world. I don't have a single regret about choosing HK to study abroad. This is the most beautiful, raw experience I have ever had.