*... everyone around me is a total stranger...everyone avoids me like a psyched lone ranger...everyone... ((turning japanese, i think i'm turning japanese, i really think so)) ...*
Friday, December 27, 2002
*... 3 cheers for free internet! ...* The upside to free internet is, hey, it's free. Of course that means that you have to get used to all the little imposed rules on the public computers, such as the one that lets you check email but not respond to it, or this current system that won't let me do any sort of CTRL + command. It actually yells at me in Korean (am I anywhere near Korea? no, not really). Plus you have to deal with the vultures, circling around waiting for your 30 minutes to be up. I at least look a little productive, more so than the fool behind me who has been sitting there for 85 minutes just chatting away thru IRC... cheater.
Enough of that, on to the juicy bits. After I left you all last at the Hard Rock, I noticed a guy wearing a tshirt that said "Wakashimatsu". He looked not-Japanese, and with other people who looked not-Japanese, so I called him over to see if they were perhaps other JETs also vacaying in HK. Turns out they are a group of counselors of sort, who travel around the world teaching leadership and tolerance to junior to high school kids. AND they are based out of San Diego. They invited me to join them, so I spent Christmas sharing a beer with a bunch of strangers, an endeavor that may lead to a future job and further travels!
The next day I took a tram with a 28 degree incline up to one of the highest peaks in HK for a birds eyeview of the islands. I also set about poking around the night markets and local eateries. I am pretty sure I ate everything normal (no dog, toad, etc, tho it was on the menu). It even felt a bit like home as I was able to order one of my most favoritist Chinese meals ever, Beef Chow Fun and Boba. Of course they had way different names for it here, but the taste was the same... heavenly.
Today I went on a tour with a pretty dumb tour guide. Maybe I was in a grumpy mood, but I think actually that this guy just sucked, I couldn"t understand most of what he said, and the places he took us were way not reflective, i thought, of the islands or the culture. But who am I to judge? I ended up wandering around the city till I found the airport express train, trying to avoid most of the shopping areas as my bags are heavy enough. What a temptation, tho, since they actually have stuff in my size!!
Overall, 2 big thumbs up for Hong Kong, will definitely come back, and not just b/c I am re-routed here on the way to Taipei after Singapore ; ) I'm headed there in a few hours, and am pretty excited b/c the Hard Rock crew gave me a great tip of where to score some real Mexican food. Yes! Afterall this great food and cheap, fitting clothes, Japan is going to be such a let-down! Bye for now, will check in when I can! (not that it matters, really, b/c D you're right, no one reads these over the holidays!) 7:06 PM
Wednesday, December 25, 2002
*... too many boats! ...* 36 hours of travel with no sleep makes *britt* a grumpy girl. Luckily I had a companion with me for the overnight train trip and Narita airport wait, but then we went our separate ways, and I took off to foreign lands solo. Despite all the travel, I wandered around Hong Kong last night in quite the opposite direction of where I was supposed to be heading. No better way to get to know a city, right?? I eventually found the place I was looking for, and spent the evening with lots of kids at a Christmas carnival down near the water. Today I took several boats (on a very very choppy sea... and I get seasick!) over to Lantau Island to check out the biggest bronze Buddha, ever I think. I got to eat a veggie lunch with a couple of monks, and they offered to shave my head for me, too... maybe next time, kids.
Sorry for the brevity, comp time is limited (as you can probably imagine). Actually I am in Hard Rock Cafe right now, my food is waiting for me, and so are several people wanting to use the free internet. Don't know if I will be able to check in again, so laters, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 7:17 PM
*a bit o' *britt*
In Niigata City, Japan it is:
* vItAl StAtS: *
* eYeS/hAiR/wEiGhT. brown/reddish?/yes. * cUrRenT wHeReAbOuTs. back back to cali, cali * bEdTiMe. my body has decided to forgo sleep for now. * fOoD. it has also decided it's anti-food. * pHrAsE. ahh! too many people speaking English! * mOoD. i feel weird, yo. Like twilight zoney, in another world weird. * tUnEs. i get to listen to the radio in my car again! * qUoTe: "whereas i am trying to read in the succession of things presented to me every day the world's intentions towards me, and I grope my way, knowing that there can exist no dictionary that will translate into words the burden of obscure allusions that lurks in these things."
*"One, seven, three, five -- The truth you search for cannot be grasped. As night advances, a bright moon illuminates the whole ocean; the dragon's jewels are found in every wave. Looking for the moon, it is here, in this wave, and in the next." Zen Master Hsueh-tou
* tHiNgS i WiLl MiSs... *
* kaori (kojima) and mariko, kaori (honma), marika and etsuko, setsuko, nakano and sakai (aka "the boys"), kelly, alan
* most of my students
* some of my teachers
* the Shin Ken Kan crew
* my granny bike (a little)
* speaking Japanese
* traveling
* tHiNgS i WoN't MiSs... *
* the staring
* the bus
* being bored outta my gourd
* sleeping on the floor
* the Japanese Way
* secondhand smoke
* the fashion
* jApAn, AkA tHe LaNd oF... *
* "We Don't Believe in Cilantro"
* "We Don't Believe in Towels"
* "Obscurely-Sized Paper"
* "Flouride is Foreign"
* "It's Rude to Eat on the Streets, but it is Perfectly Acceptable to Blow Smoke in your Face"
* "9am is Too Early for Stores to Open"
* "We Just Make the Technology, We Don't Use It"
* "Central Air? Never Heard of It. Central Heating? Nuh-uh. Heated Toilet Seats? Well duh, of course!!"
* "Deodor-what?"
* "Open 24Hrs = 7am - 10pm"
* "Our Knees Don't Freeze"
* "We Want to Speak Like Americans and Look Like Americans and Act Like Americans, But We Don't Actually Like Americans"
* "Hey, Free Beer!"
