Hong Kong and Guilin

I went to Hong Kong for three days to go on a networking trip with the Robert Day Program at CMC, and then spent two lazy days in Guilin.

The Hong Kong part kind of reinforced how I already felt about the program. First interaction at Dinner:

Student: Macau! Do you gamble?
Me: No
Student: Oh, why are you there, then? What else is there to do?

or

Student: Does Macau have good nightlife?

Me: No

Student: Oh, so you come to Hong Kong to party.

Me: No

Student:

It's kind of funny that these people come so far...to go to a club. No experience or even awareness of local culture. (Although to be fair the trip was so structured that you really couldn't). It also made me realize two things about myself:

1) I was the only person to treat our ESL guides as individuals. Actually, this is really kind of bizarre: most Americans who aren't used to being around people who's mother tounge is not English as a kind of non-person. There was no attempt to interact with them on the part of the students.

2) I have become used to more service roles. I.e., at lunch, I won't pick up my trash in the cafeteria. HK has a more colonial/serivice mentality. When I first got here I would, and the employees would be PISSED because I was 'taking their job'. It's true, but depressing to realize that I've gotten used to it while my American counterparts have not.

Of course this is all very judgemental and probably more reflective on a few people (the undergraduates rather than the graduate students). I have been quite privileged to be living and working with girls who really do care about cultural interaction and helping our students. It will be a little sad to go back into an atmosphere where people are mainly focused on having fun and making money. It's something that I've gotten used to and probably have taken for granted.

Just to be hypocritical, I did go out in Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fong, drank Long Islands and danced terribly in crappy clubs. And I had a great time.

Here is my new favorite person:

Bruce ('97 CMC) is a successful hedge fund manager in HK. He literally took a week off of work to party with students. And he drinks fruity drinks. This is my new role model.

I sprinted from Morgan Stanley in Kowloon back to central to pick up my passport, which was at the consulate to get new pages added. Arrived at 4:06, had to beg the guard to let me in to get it back. Sprint to Wan Chai to get my bags, change trains to get on the blue line to Lo Hu, run through the border crossing into Shenzhen, get lost on the metro, find the airport bus, just miss my flight, buy a first class one-way ticket to Guilin on another flight, meet Emily in a small hostel. Take a bamboo raft down the Li river (beautiful) and almost lose our bags, stay in a hostel in Yangshuo. Get lost on a bike in the countryside-- so happy and free feeling.