I’m boring during the weekdays, don’t hate me. I don’t have much to report about the exciting things happening in life since I actually have to start doing homework these days, but I can tell you about what school is like at HKU!

I’m taking the following:

Cantonese for foreign learners- The teacher is super enthusiastic and incredibly nice. This is the only class I have that’s full of only exchange students, and I’m learning conversational Cantonese like nei ho, ngo giu Dorothy. nei ne? (Hello, my name is Dorothy. And you?)  I do have an advantage over the European students because of my Mandarin knowledge, but I’m just as bad as they are at hitting the right tones (6 TONES, COME ON!)

Moral Psychology in Chinese Tradition- taught by a white American professor who speaks fluent Mandarin and makes me feel super ashamed that I suck at life. It’s a class on old Chinese philosophers (Mencius, Zhuangzi, etc) and how their schools of thought developed from their assumptions about human psychology. I actually feel quite bewildered in this class because I am terrible at philosophy and thinking on the spot, so I’m pretty bad at answering the professor’s questions when he calls on me (participation is worth 40% of my grade, so I have to talk).

Psychology of Personality- I didn’t get to take this back at UCLA, so this is probably the only class I’m taking that will probably transfer over. I would enjoy the class more if there wasn’t some lady always asking irrelevant questions and taking over class time. Hey, I know you’re intelligent and are curious about how Freud relates to homosexuality, but can you please STFU and let the professor continue on things that matter to the class? It’s kind of sad really, because everytime she stops the professor to ask a question by saying “Excuse me,” you can hear loud groans coming from the students. 

Hong Kong Popular Culture- a sociology class where I learn about stuff like McMug, Leng Mos, and the Edison Chen scandal (no, I didn’t see any pictures in class). I actually have more work in this class than I intended, but the professor is super intelligent. It’s kind of weird having an Asian professor with an accent articulate words as well as he does, which is really different from my experience with Asian professors (who aren’t 2nd generation Asian-Ams) back home who are terrible at explaining things. 

Popular Culture of Japan & Hong Kong- probably the most pointless class I’m taking, because the grade is only based on a group project and a paper that doesn’t involve anything the professor talks about in class. I love the class anyways, because the professor is a huge Otaku geek, kind of perverted, awkward, and tries to literally explain Cantonese words in English. There are no tests, and each week the number of students who attend class diminish, but I go anyways because he talks about things I absolutely love about Japanese culture (TV drama, fandom, boy love, cosplay, etc). Apparently, during the cosplay lecture, he’s going to dress up in a GUNDAM SUIT. I cannot wait for that. 

Chinese Dynasties for Foreign Learners- the class is basically a brief overview of all the Chinese dynasties up until 1911. This is the only history class that I’m able to take, because every other Chinese culture/history class I signed up for when I was originally applying to HKU is in the School of Chinese, which is TAUGHT IN CHINESE. I’m a fool for not realizing earlier this earlier, and am bummed that I don’t get to learn about more modern Chinese history (Cultural Revolution, Mao, etc.), but I get to learn about the Terra Cotta soldiers and royalty. 

Going to school in an Asian country kind of boosts my self esteem, especially when I’m in discussion sections and am actually one of the people who speak up more. It’s weird compared to back home, where I am not confident enough and don’t organize my thoughts fast enough to speak up in discussion sections, and by the time I do, somebody else steals my thunder and says what I want to say. Here, the local students are more uncertain about their thoughts than I am, so I get to steal their thunders. Hah!

I also love when the TAs/professors bust into Cantonese to explain things better, but I really wish I understood. In my Psychology section, everybody can understand Cantonese but me, so the TA has to make sure people speak in English for my sake. It’s fascinating actually, because the local students speak in such a formal manner when they use English. Some of my exchange friends who can understand Cantonese have sections that are taught in Cantonese, and they say the environment is more relaxed and playful (BUMMER). 

Business/economics is such a huge thing at HKU; it’s one of the most well respected and popular majors. The prestige is equivalent to the pre-med and engineering majors back home at UCLA. I haven’t met any pre-med students yet, since most local students are the elite business majors (who often dress up in suits). 

Okay, enough of my observations. What did I do today?

Some of us wanted to go on a boba run, so we took the bus to Causeway Bay (boba runs are totally not as easy as getting into a car and driving), which was the closest place we knew of that has Gong Cha. Their special drink comes with a layer of cream on top of the tea. I made a new friend here as well, because the male Gong Cha workers just love treating me rudely. I asked one of the workers in Mandarin what the free drink stickers were for (I didn’t know what they were at the time,) and he just said pu tong waa (Mandarin), turned back around, and left me hanging at the counter like a deer in the headlights. I took it to mean that he didn’t understand what I was saying, and decided to let another coworker handle it. Luckily, our Cantonese speaking Leanne was able to communicate with him. 

Anyways, you’ve all met Courtney and Leanne. The one on the very left is Rhona, one of my first Scottish friends!

I saw a poster for a Redbull Flugtag event happening at Victoria Harbour. Hot damn, it came all the way to Hong Kong! I went to the one at Long Beach Harbour in August, and I have yet to upload those pictures, but it’s so cool that they are holding one of these in HK!

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   meeting pre-med students:...straight into medical school, working towards

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