Blog around the world

Another school week begins… first class was the social science research methods, and afterwards was the tutorial for an environmental class. Nothing too significant other than that the weather has cooled significantly today, with a nice breeze.

Another really great morning! I went to eat breakfast and later went to church with my uncle and a church friend of my uncle’s family. After church, we separated into other groups, and after a bit of sharing, we ate out for lunch. Upon going back to church, I found out that church members were learning how to make moon cakes but I decided not to; instead, I played a bit of ball with some friends. It was definitely refreshing!!

After resting at home for a bit and witnessing a huge amount of rainfall, we ate out at Harbour City (海港城). The view there was really nice, definitely worth going to!

Long day yesterday… didn’t get home until around midnight and had to wake up early for church so it’s a delayed post.

I traveled around Hung Hom (紅磡) and Tsim Tsa Tsui (尖沙咀) for the afternoon and into the night. First I ate noodles at a restaurant for lunch, and then went to a fellowship at my parent’s church. Afterwards, I traveled with my cousin to watch him and his orchestra practice pieces for three hours in preparation for a performance. Then we ate at a Japanese restaurant, walked around what seemed to be a street in Japan, and traversed around The Whampoa (黃埔號) for a bit before heading back home.

I had one class, which was another tutorial class. I found this to be really helpful since more time can be spent during lecture on the material and the tutorial course can be used to clarify anything that is unclear throughout the lecture. Perhaps this could be implemented in CUNY…

Afterwards, I went to the mall in hopes of ice-skating, but things did not quite work out so I wound up walking around with a classmate. A notable place in the mall I found of interest was a music place; I spent a lot of time fooling around with the piano there. Soon enough, my other classmates arrived and we ate dinner together at a place that specialized in Shanghainese food.

After dinner, I left to check out a fellowship at the university. It’s tough not being able to fully understand the language, but it is helpful knowing even some so that I could communicate with others. Hoping to continue improving in my Chinese!

I went to school barely on time for a Chinese course, Putonghua I. I found it to be super difficult because the class is taught in Putonghua as well instead of English, which was the mode of teaching when I was in secondary school. I would say it’s analagous to learning English from an English teacher when you naturally know Spanish but know enough English to get by a bit. Sorta. Anyway, I know this course will be extremely challenging since I cannot really read much Chinese, especially since it’s traditional Chinese, but I hope this will help me to learn Chinese at a much faster pace. First, I’ll talk to my professor about it though…

My second and final class of the day was analytical chemistry. We finished up the topic on chromatographic separations.

Afterwards, I went to eat dinner with some friends at the canteen and talked about this trip to Antarctica. Students can go to this trip in December if they submit a proposal by next week I believe. If I was sticking around for a year, then I would definitely get involved, because this sounds really interesting, and it’s pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…

 

Nothing particular today due to my day off. I decided to relax for a bit to catch up with people and also ran at the gym for a bit. It was nice not doing much for a change, with not many obligations. I also made plans for upcoming days.

… I vaguely remember what happened to me on 9/11 (I was in elementary school then), but I would not be able to understand the struggles the people who lost their families and friends in the attack had. 9/11 is still an important day though, so I did want to mention that my heart goes to these people. I’m reminded of the required reading prior to Macaulay, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Though I don’t remember much of it, what I do remember is a child searching for memoirs from 9/11. Just wanted to throw that out there as well.

Long day of the week: 9am class to a class that ends at 8:30pm. Many firsts today. Before class started, I quickly went to the canteen to grab some buns, only to find out that it did not taste as good as I would have hoped; I tasted better ones in New York! Oh well… Then I went to the library, only to find that it opens at 8:30am, which surprised me considering there are dorms open as well… what’s more, when I arrived there the second time, there was a line forming waiting to get in, probably to access the computers and printers there…

Afterwards was my first tutorial class, which I found to be quite helpful. We went over three questions for food chemistry and then the instructor showed a demonstration by placing crackers in solutions of varying humidity. The effects will be shown next week. Then we had the lecture portion, where we finished up discussing about water and then started talking about carbohydrates. I’m excited to learn more about food chemistry, since I feel like there will be some great applications despite there not being a practical component.

I had a few hours break in between classes so I decided to grab something to eat, this time my first official Western dish in Hong Kong with an Asian flavor I suppose: salmon and spaghetti with white sauce. Though it didn’t taste bad, the portion was a bit disappointing…

Soon after I went back to school, I attended a lab safety session, which wound up being quite short and concise, which was a relief. Each student is required to wear lab coats and goggles at all times. Slightly different from at home, where unless certain chemicals are being used (such as bromine), lab coats are not required. What’s also cool here is that there are lockers that can be used for access while class is in session.

After this was another break, and while it was still somewhat early (around 4:30), I decided to grab a really early dinner considering my class didn’t start until 6pm. While I was eating dinner though, I managed to see someone that I saw on the city excursion, so shortly after eating, we walked around the mall for a bit before I left to go to class.

The final class I attended was about environmental issues and the ways of going about handling them. I thought it was interesting that it was my first time that I had class in a lecture hall… Today we focused on the importance of fuel on aviation and how the lack of oil may make the world seem “big” again since travel is much more inconvenient without this coveted resource we once took for granted in the past.

Once class was dismissed, I left to take the subway to the University (大學) station, which was, as its name implies, the place of another university, in this case, the Chinese University of Hong (香港中文大學). The reason I thought this place was of significance to this blog was because of the statue I saw there which highly resembled the Statue of Liberty. It was called the “New Goddess of Democracy.” Just thought it was something interesting to note.

The second week of classes has begun. I only had my social science research methods class today; the other class I would have had to attend was an environmental tutorial course, but it only meets on the odd-numbered weeks barring the first week. The class wound up going by quickly.

I found printing on campus to be rather hectic because one’s printing job is deleted an hour after the job is sent. The lines are quite long as well in the library despite there being three usable printers. It is quite different from at CUNY, where the printer automatically prints what is needed. Still, I thought it is helpful that each student has access to 1600 sheets of paper, with double-sided pages constituting 1.5 pages instead of 2.

I ate lunch at the Festival Walk and then decided to get back home. Tomorrow will be a long day with a lab safety session and quite a few classes. Hoping to get enough energy so I stay awake and alert!

Went to a my parent’s church early in the morning, but it took quite a while for me to get there so I wound up late… oh well. After service, I went out to eat with some old and new friends from church at a Japanese restaurant. Considering it was Japanese cuisine, the price was reasonable and the meal was quite satisfying. A while later, we went to get some mango dishes at a dessert place. A really unique taste indeed. No pics though, sorry!

Afterwards, I went back home to rest up before eating dinner with some friends of my parents from a long time ago at a seminary canteen at Ma On Shan (馬鞍山). I thought the price was really cheap: if you buy at least one of their dishes, the rice and soup is $10 per person with as many refills as you want. Each dish was about $40, but there was quite a bit of food for each. It was my first time trying pig’s feet… it was… different from what I usually eat, but I wouldn’t say it was bad. Going to continue trying new foods, let’s go!

Realized later on that I have school tomorrow… it really does feel like vacation right now, but it’s only fair considering I only had one week of school so far. We shall see how it goes, but I am excited to see how this semester develops!

Since it was Saturday, there were no plans set. I decided to go with my uncle [B] and aunt [Monica] to go have dim sum (飲茶) at a place called 大榮華 at Kowloon Bay (九龍灣). I really liked the food there, especially when it came to trying new foods. My favorite dish was the clay pot rice (煲仔飯). Apparently, this dish is one of the first to be sold out since it’s so popular.

After eating there, I went to a hair salon to get my hair cut. It was quite cheap and fast: $50 for about 10 minutes!! Then I went back home to relax for a bit and then went to the gym to run for a bit before eating a great dinner to finish off my day.