Debate Workshop

We have a 4 day debate workshop in Macau now. It's nice because I get paid about half a months salary to attend. It is 9 am - 9 pm every day though. The downside is that I'm not actually doing anything. Actually, it's pretty depressing. The trainers aren't even getting paid.

I also am now pretty sure that the team won't be going to New Zealand or to the Philippines - there's plenty of money and enthusiasm from the students. The school is just too bureacratic, and the people in charge of the program are terrible at leading or organizing anything. I keep trying to push things, but I'm so junior that it's considered really rude and presumptuous. It makes a job that should be fun and rewarding really depressing.

I keep getting trapped into the cycle of feeling that it's my crappy attitude that is diminishing my experience. I looked at some photos from last summer, and realized that my summer was actually awesome, and I was really happy. I made the right choice by ending my contract early.

Gap Yah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU

Roommate Quotes

1) We could be the pied piper of alcoholics...

2) I'm not opposed to gold digging. Everyone has the right to be happy.

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.

Summer Job

So, I told my students that I would be leaving in June. We talked about my new job at an investment bank in New York. One student is now convinced that I have a jewish hereditary disease; the other student misheard the second word as "Sex" and now thinks I am going to be a lady of the night.

With failure,

Holly

Guangzhou

We went to Guangzhou this weekend with our language partners. It was a good trip. Just leating, shopping, and going to the zoo. The zoo was actually pretty depressing. All of the cages were tiny and the animals looked really really skinny. The big cats looked terrible and were constantly pacing back and forth.

More emails

Dear Holly,

Hi Buttface~Thank you for you debate blouse. I love it. It is a busy and exciting day.

After we met at dinner, we went to attend "speak with confidence" and there were not enough people, four and no interview. And my friend Ivy wants to give it a try, could you give me Jaramy's e-mail, so I can ask for his permission?

Best!
Dorothy