Watch out for Chicken Heads
-I stepped on a chicken head in the middle of the street and only realized what it was after Sara Beth screamed "Watch out for that chicken head!" It was fairly traumatic seeing that it happened in the first few weeks of my arrival.
- Over a long weekend I was able to travel to Ho Chi Min, Vietnam. While I had planned to travel along, I was fortunately able to meet up with a family friend who was on business there. Having someone to show me the city was fantastic and I'm not sure what I was thinking going to Vietnam alone! It would have been disastrous if I Todd had not been there to even help me cross the street! He meet me at the airport and In Ho Chi Min I shopped at Ben Thanh, a famous market with cheap souvenirs and knock off anything! I visited the Chu Chi tunnels where the people of Chu Chi built underground an underground city to protect themselves from the fight as well as fight back. There was definitely signs of heavy propaganda here and it was interesting to see the war from another prospective. I could not image living in the tunnels for months at a time like the Vietnamese people did. Like my tour guide said, the tunnels were built for Vietnamese sizes people, very small. I walked through the reunification palace where some of the radio equipment used in the war was still on display. One of my favorite things I did was ride a motorbike (see video) around the city at night. I loved seeing the things people carried on the bikes and also that a family of four could fit on one bike! The most impressive thing I did in Ho Chi Min was cross the street without getting run over!
Hiking in Hong Kong
-Now that the weather is tolerable, I have been on a few hike outside the city. The first one, Dragon's Back hike, gave us great views of the South China Sea and the sky line. It was beautiful! A group of us also went to Monkey Mountain where we were able to see real monkeys in the wild. Even though the monkeys originally escaped pets, they have now settled about 20 minutes outside the city. It was really cool seeing monkey outsides cages but a bit frightening too! We learned quickly from the locals to carry a big stick. The monkeys were quite forceful in getting food. If they even thought you had some, the monkeys would creep closer and closer and search through any bag you had. Lucky, the monkeys didn't think poor teachers like us had any food but others on the mountain did. One man brought food specifically to feed the animals and had to consistently point a stick at them to keep them from attacking. ( No harm was done because these smart animals knew not to get near) Despite fearing for my life at times (See picture of a monkey attacking Sara Beth) I thoroughly enjoyed Monkey Mountain.
Beautiful Fireworks
The opening ceremonies of the East Asian Games (EAG) in Hong Kong gave us a spectacular fireworks display that beat out the fireworks show for the Chinese National Day. Mostly because I could see this time. But nonetheless, Hong Kong knows how to do fireworks right! 15 minutes of not stop amazing fireworks that deserved an applause at end! Seeing the fireworks show makes me glad to be in Hong Kong because no where else in the world will I get to see a show like this over the harbour with such a grand skyline and who doesn't love a good fireworks show?
Well that's just a few updates that I should have put up ages ago but it's better late than never :) I have a few things to look forward to in the next few weeks: my boyfriend, Toby, is coming to visit me, a teacher at my school invited me to her wedding ( a traditional Hong Kong wedding!! I'm so excited!), I'll be going home for the holidays, a friend from college, Sara Frances, is getting married and I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding and most importantly I get to see my family!! I'll leave you with a few pictures from my precious kids. Happy Holidays!!
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was definitely not the same as it is back home but Sara Beth, Tripp and I did make reservations at a nice restaurant on the Peak (the highest point in Hong Kong with real estate prices to match) that advertised a set traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and a few other traditional items. The setting was beautiful over looking the city but when we order our Thanksgiving dinner the waiter told us they were sold out! I almost started crying. If being away from my family was not bad enough, I was not going to get turkey on Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving was not completely ruined and my meal was delicious, the restaurant was wonderful, and company even better! I feel so blessed to have Sara Beth and Tripp here to share little things, like a Thanksgiving meal and to remind me of home.
Beautiful Fireworks
The opening ceremonies of the East Asian Games (EAG) in Hong Kong gave us a spectacular fireworks display that beat out the fireworks show for the Chinese National Day. Mostly because I could see this time. But nonetheless, Hong Kong knows how to do fireworks right! 15 minutes of not stop amazing fireworks that deserved an applause at end! Seeing the fireworks show makes me glad to be in Hong Kong because no where else in the world will I get to see a show like this over the harbour with such a grand skyline and who doesn't love a good fireworks show?
Well that's just a few updates that I should have put up ages ago but it's better late than never :) I have a few things to look forward to in the next few weeks: my boyfriend, Toby, is coming to visit me, a teacher at my school invited me to her wedding ( a traditional Hong Kong wedding!! I'm so excited!), I'll be going home for the holidays, a friend from college, Sara Frances, is getting married and I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding and most importantly I get to see my family!! I'll leave you with a few pictures from my precious kids. Happy Holidays!!
