Food, glorious food!

Omgosh I got so fat in the lower abdomen area. 

Not only does the media here keep telling me with their Linda Chung ads that I'm super fat, but binging on the awesome cakes from Italian Tomato, curry fishballs from street vendors, and milktea (with sweatened condensed milk) from the Tai Po Cooked Food Market is not helping.

Muuuust lose weight to eat more!

Anyway back to Italian Tomato.  So far I have tried Mousse au Chocolat, Tiramisu, and Renoir.

Mousse au Chocolat has a rich creamy cocoa taste and fragrance.  The mousse is balanced with three thin layers of chocolate cake.  The rim of the cake is surrounded by a layer of silky chocolate truffle.  Cocoa powder covers the entire surface.  How could anyone resist!?

I must say that the Tiramisu was a total disappointment (it's usually a hit).  It didn't have enough moisture and tasted like any other ordinary cake.  It had no character of its own and was lacking the key element of a Tiramisu: sweet coffee!  The bottom cake level should have been soaked in sweet coffee to give it a complex texture and taste.  Yes the cake cannot be soaked for too long, and yes it is a challenge to keep it in the fridge to sell for the whole day (because the cake will collapse if you soak it too much), but that is the challenge and the highlight of a Tiramisu!!

The Renoir wasn't bad.  Renoir is just a fancy name for cappuccino cake.  I think it was generally a good piece of work, but it must be eaten first.  Everything just falls flat after Mousse au Chocolat.  To be honest I don't remember much of what it tasted like...  I just love the little walnut they put on the top though.

Language Partner

Going to backtrack a little.  Okay, a lot.  This isn't part of the internship... but it's making me see how many things in the world are connected.

On May 28, Trish came to HKIEd to do an orientation for students going to York University in the fall term of 2012.  It is part of their teaching program to do an exchange and they get a choice between going to Canada and England (lucky!).  I was a language partner for the last cohort in the winter term of 2011, and I was coincidentally in HK, so I joined the orientation and talked about the experience a little bit.  Not much of an expressive person unless I'm angry (and I definitely wasn't angry) so not sure if I actually helped any.  Hopefully just being there, smiling, helped to reinforce how Canadians are welcoming and friendly.  The best part of the day was going to a Shanghainese dinner at Tsim Sha Tsui with Trish and the HKIEd students I met last term! 

The reunion was interesting.  I was used to being the one doing the show-and-tell in Canada, but our roles had instantaneously reversed in Hong Kong.  All of a sudden, they were telling me about things I must do and places I must go to.  It was all very exciting.  Being a language partner at York, I had to speak to them in English to increase their language proficiency.  Since I'm off the job now, I spoke to them in the language they preferred (that being Cantonese).  Many of them found it both funny and strange to hear their own language coming out of my mouth even though they know fully well that I can speak Cantonese.


All of us at dinner!

Trish, IEd students and me at the MTR station before saying goodbye

Something I Now Appreciate that I Didn't Before

Went to do some shopping in Mongkok and Dong Men (mainland) in the weekend.  There were so many people and everyone was in a rush.  It was borderline chaotic.  I had to become a total jerk just to make my way through the crowd.  Tricks include: acting like a crab and jutting your elbows out, put your fists in front of your chest to prevent someone from shoving their bodies/accessories/other items onto your sensitive parts.  I would've grown some quills or needles if I could but this is all I could do...

There's an incredible work culture that propels people to get to work Monday-Friday.  It really doesn't help that everyone's financial burdens are piling up because of the currency rate.  The price of goods and services are going up rapidly, but pay is staying the same.  Inflation is bound to happen.  We must thank the US for this.  The hours are long (imagine a primary school teacher working until 7pm), work is tedious, and locals only get to relax on weekends.  People usually go to malls because they are air conditioned.  It's too hot to go anywhere else!  Malls are mostly empty on weekdays and crammed with people on weekends.  On Sundays, Filipino domestic workers get a break and hang around the busiest locations like Admiralty, Central, Shatin, and Tsim Sha Tsui. The approx. 6 million people swarming together makes me panic even though I'm not claustrophobic and I get a really bad acid burn in my stomach thinking about it.  I miss the large open spaces in Toronto where I can keep people at a 1m distance from me simply by stepping backwards. 

I find it really strange that  (generally speaking) nobody enjoys their work because it is not meaningful to them.  Most find it a drag and hope to score big bucks at the Jockey Club, which, by the way, funds a lot of education, art, and recreation-related projects in Hong Kong: Jockey Club Primary School ($92.74 million, HKIEd),  Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre ($94.4 million, Shek Kip Mei), Jockey Club Government Secondary School (Kowloon Tong), Jockey Club Auditorium ($66.26 million, HK Polytechnic University), Jockey Club Ti-I College ($84 million, Shatin) and Jockey Club Amphitheatre ($56 million, HK Academy for Performing Arts).  This is one of the only places I actually would say, "KEEP GAMBLING, FOLKS."

note: more info about Jockey Club here.

Rainy Day

I woke up at 2am last night.  Thought my eyes weren't adjusting properly to the dark because something was flashing.  I looked out the window and the sky was grey instead of black. 

"Strange," I thought, "a light show at HKIEd?" 

"Nope," roared the thunderstorm in a booming rumble.

I could've been dreaming. 

But I'm pretty sure it happened because I woke up this morning to a war zone.  HKIEd is on a mountain and the sound of thunder reverberates like crazy.  The mountains were smoking because of the rain.  Imagine Spirited Away, then imagine a mountain god in a spa smoking a pipe... That's what it looked like.  Simply breathtaking.

Assigned Blog Topics

So I actually have blogging assignments to complete once every two weeks (pretty behind on those).  There is a list of topics we need to choose from.  For my easy access and for your information, I have decided to post it up here.

1) Something that touched your heart
2) Something you now appreciate that you didn't before
3) A lesson learned
4) What you value
5) The definition of beautiful where you are
6) A moment you will always remember
7) See yourself through someone else's eyes
8) Best meal of the summer
9) Movement
10) Turning point

Making Connections

I didn't really blog about my internship at all so I thought it would be important to mention what I have been doing for a month.  Wow it's already been a month!!  Time sure flies.

As Natasha and Larissa mentioned to me before, it is indeed a dynamic internship.  I basically do anything associated with English.  It involves a huge range of things that I never thought would be related to what I already know how to do.  The exposure has opened up many new possibilities for me.  So far, I have transcribed English interviews and organized research material for my host contact.  I have given talks about Canadian culture (really hard to define us by the way) and the Canadian education system in a local secondary school.  I am currently helping a NET (Native English Teacher) in a primary school with language instruction, reading, writing, and preparing for an English drama for multicultural day.   I am also helping with the BA language studies summer camp at IEd, where I have to converse with students in English to train their language proficiency.  These duties will probably take me up to the beginning of July.  Not sure what mid-late July and August will be all about yet, but probably more exciting and hard work. 

I'm really enjoying it so far: meeting lots of people, gaining new experiences, getting together with old friends and family, seeing what they are up to... It's funny how it doesn't feel like I am learning much new material though.  It probably sounds like I am wasting my time here but do let me clarify before you get ahead of me.  I went through my life basically picking up bits and pieces of knowledge, experiences, and ideas that virtually made no sense.  Everything seemed to be "just the way it is" just because.  This internship is helping me to bridge the gaps, make connections, and finally give me a sense of clarity of these disjointed segments.  It's giving me a similar feeling to the one described in The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Although it's probably not something someone pays you to do ($3000 CAD from York), and not a target learning objective of an internship, I learned a lot about my family and why they behave the way they do.  Here is an example.  I was always puzzled at why my dad dumps a huge meal into his stomach and "finishes" within five minutes.  He rushes me and conflict ensues until disastrous ending results.  It's just typical.  But now I am seeing the reasons behind it. 

He grew up in Hong Kong.

Yes.

that is the reason.  the end.

I am working at the primary school now, and I get about 45 minutes for lunch from 12:30-1:15.  After tidying up the classroom, following the NET around for preparations, lesson follow-ups, and discussions, I get about 30 minutes.  Since the primary school has 7 floors, by the time you get to G, out to the canteen, you get about 25 minutes.  Wonderful.  Line up to order at the canteen, line up to get your food, 15 minutes left. 

Prett much feels like this every lunch.  It's the Dragon Boat Festival in Tai O on June 6.

Ready?  Set?  Go!  Eat!! eAT!! EAT!!!  Yum.  Not really.  Didn't taste much at all.  Whatever, get out now.  Love to be there 5 minutes before class starts, but no can do.  Walking up the stairs take longer too.  1:15-- huff huff puff....

I knew my dad was from Hong Kong, and I knew he dumped food into his stomach.  Now I know why.

Octopus Card

I love the Octopus card.  It makes everything easily accessible.  You can pay your transit fares with it or even pay for your meals with it.  It’s basically a card that you can put money in and pay for anything with one convenient touch.  Sounds great right?  Did you know the system/concept was designed/invented by a Canadian?  Ironically, we don’t reap the benefits of our creation at all.

Before I left Toronto, I saw Rogers proudly advertising their great advancement in phone technology.  You can now use the phone underground on the TTC.  Wow, big deal.  Is this seriously your idea of a new technology?  Most countries build their transit systems with the problem of reception in mind and put a receiver inside the tunnel.  I get so frustrated talking about this.  How far behind are we?  I keep complaining when I am taking the TTC, “back in the day, we already had the octopus card in HK, blah blah.”  Ten or so years later, I am still complaining.  In my current trip, I am seeing such a quick growth spurt in the Hong Kong landscape and transit lines.  They have built about five new transit lines in the past five years.  TTC is trying to build one in five years, and we are not sure if they can finish on schedule.

A Bright Future

So I had the pleasure of meeting a doctor last Wednesday.  Not as a student, but as a patient.  When I got to the clinic, there was already a long line up.  I had to wait over 1 hour to see my source of relief.  My sore throat was killing me and my dripping nose was like a leaking faucet threatening to flood the country.  Anyway I finally got to see the doc.  He and I had the usual conversation that most people engage in when they make this trip. 

Hello, what's wrong?
-Sore throat, dripping nose, no headache, a little cough.
When did it start?
-Today.
I see, say "aah."
-Aah.
It's really swollen.  I'll give you some antibiotics.  What about that nose?
-When I tilt forward, it drips.
Hm.  Okay, antibiotics.
-Thank you.

Common scenario, except for the antibiotics.  While Canadians stress over taking antibiotics, this Hong Kongese doctor had no problem dishing them out by the dozens, probably to every patient.  I thought antibiotics were for serious cases, but it seems to be quite common to take them here. 

After the visit to the doctor, you proceed to the pharmacy, which is located right inside the clinic! The setup is quite ingenious.  The walk is about two second, unlike the great distance that we Canadians have to travel after we see a professional for our ailments just to get one bottle of cough syrup.  The fee of $205 includes:

The doc really listened to all my "this this hurts help," and gave me pills for EACH individual problem. There are meds of all kinds: cough syrup, lozenges (cough drops, yes they provide cough drops can you believe it? yay!), pills labeled "nose, at bedtime," pills that says "nose, may feel drowsy," pills "for pain and fever," and "Bright future" pills-- I mean antibiotics.

As the local saying goes (with my poor translation), "I have time to die but no time to get sick."  Everyone wants to get better quicker, but it seems that Hong Kongeses takes this concept extremely seriously, kicking it up a few notches in its practical implications.  This means antibiotics.  Whatever happened to taking a day off?  Well although you are totally allowed to take sick days, most people don’t.  There are too much to do, too much pressure to do them all, and too little time to do them.  Taking a day off means lagging behind.  And nobody wants to lag behind, because you would then have to make up for that by working double the pace the next day.  Your life revolves around your work, and your work is your life.  I am not sure if it’s a meaningful existence or simply a struggle to stay afloat.

Hostel

After completing towering piles of paperwork and going through arduous administrative processes, my contact has secured the hostel accommodation for me right at HKIEd! Hurrah! I have been living there from May 25. I have not posted anything yet because I did not have a camera for a picture until now, and I believe it is imperative that you actually see it to understand the relief that I am feeling right now. I have been living in my uncle/aunt/cousin's apartment suite from May 17 (the day I arrived). There are about 8 people living in this incredibly small space.

This above was my room and it is just slightly bigger than Harry Potter's closet space in the Dudley house. Don't get me wrong--they have been very generous to take me in. The concept of space is simply extremely different from the one we have in Canada. 

I spy a TV right above my bed tilted at just the right angle.  I miss it now that I'm gone.

Everything seems temporary and in-transition. After you used something, you have to clean it right up, prop it back up, put it in the best-space-conserving order, or something to that effect.  The look of the flat can change any moment depending on what activity is going on at the time.  To accomodate this lifestyle in the amount of space available, their home contains many gadgets with ingenious designs to save space. The highlights of these are in the bathroom.

When you go into the bathroom, you are immediately met with a toilet. The seat has been propped up because the door won't close with it down. After you closed the door, you can prop it back down to use the toilet. To shower, you need to pull down this rack attached to the door so it becomes a right angle (up position I, down position L). Put your clothes there so they won't get wet. The rack needs to go back up into the I position or the door won't open. Get into this showering corner and do your thing. Get out, the floor will be flooded. Panic now. NO wait. It's okay! Get out-- wait prop the toilet seat back up, prop the rack back up, and then get out. Don't slip now. Wipe your feet with the towel outside. Then mop the floor and squeeze the mop water into the toilet. Close the door to exit your daily nightmare adventure. <-- just kidding. It's not as bad as it sounds once you get used to the routine. The next difficult thing was to switch to another set of routine at the HKIEd hostel, but I am okay now!



HKIEd Robert Black Hostel Room

My home now is right next to the office and it is incredibly convenient to go to work and back. There are Chinese characters all around the residence about exciting events, student life, hostel histories...etc. Being surrounded by them is quite overwhelming. I can read them, but it takes time. People in Hong Kong use many trendy expressions (like our puns and rhymes) that make the phrases interesting. They usually contain double or even triple entendre. For a person unfamiliar with the local culture, peoples, and histories, trying to understand the full meaning behind these words is somewhat futile. Looking at a whole bunch of them makes me tired. I feel like an ESL student all over again, except is should be CSL now. One of my goals for this trip is to be able to converse in Chinese for a whole day without being mentally strained and exhausted.

Tada, only bite marks left.

For those of you who followed my previous post. My bed bug bites have healed. Thank God they have not travelled with me and infested any other places. They are most probably biting some other unsuspecting traveller at the moment halfway across the globe, who, unlike me, will actually complain to the airline about their poor hygiene.