Hong Kong Shuffle

This week has been a little frustrating to say the least. Study abroad in Hong Kong has been a phenomenal experience and I know that I really have no reason to complain, but sometimes your emotions just get the  better of you.

I know that a thousand other people would trade places with me right now- it's not that I'm ungrateful for this opportunity or ready to go home quite yet, but Asia this week really knew how to push my buttons.

It started on Sunday when I had a scheduled group meeting for 10am. As a 21 year old college student a 10am meeting on a Sunday morning is a little ambitious. Nevertheless, I set an alarm and woke up to finish some research before our meeting. Haley and I decided to order McDonalds for breakfast as nothing is open earlier than 11am on Sunday mornings here at residence (frustration number one). Frustration number 2 came when the delivery people called back five minutes after my order and told me they would take over an hour to deliver. At 3am I understand that but honestly Asia (at least college Asia) doesn't wake up early on a Sunday so how many orders could they have actually had...

Got the call that the delivery man was here. He wasn't where he said he would be. Went to look for him. He disappeared. Tried to have security speak Cantonese to him. No use. My McDonalds was getting cold!- Clearly the whole deliver debacle was frustration number 3.

We went to meet our group mate on the lawn promptly at 10 and he didn't show-frustration number 4. At home I love group work. It is definitely an environment which I thrive in. Here in Hong Kong though group work is another story. People don't seem to take school seriously or they just don't know how to act professionally or a mix of both (i'm not sure). In the end we did meet and figure out the project, but the whole ordeal was stressful.

Frustration 5: As the semester comes to a close group projects and paper deadlines have begun to pile up. Because I've not had more than two homework assignments a week this entire semester, the stress of everything coming at once actually got to me. The classes here are quite easy but what is most frustrating is that I have no idea what the professors expectations are.

Imagine this- you are dropped into a school which you have never gone to before and have no idea what they consider to be the norm and to top it all off the school doesn't really use rubrics. That is me this semester at City U. I am never usually clueless in school. I've always been the nerd of the family. At City U though I have no idea what is expected of me and what is considered "good" work.

Frustration 6: Presentations are the worst. I make my power points to "Kelley standards" (few words per slide, no script, etc.), but here the slides are filled with words and the presenters literally read from the slides or worse have an entire scripted presentation. They also seem to use an unnecessary amount of audience participation. It is extremely awkward to say the least. I'm sure its just a cultural barrier, but i'm definitely ready to be learning from Kelley professors again next semester. You really don't realize how good you've got it until it's gone.

The rest of my frustration this week really just came about because I was stressed with all my school work. I have had an amazing time here in Asia, but definitely had a good whine session this week. I've mentioned it before but things that got on my nerves this week are as followed (frustrations 7-10):

1. The inability for locals to walk on the right side of the sidewalk/in any order at all. They are constantly looking at their phones or walk in giant stretched out lines across the sidewalk which makes it difficult for anyone else to move.

2. Locals walk soooo slow. I call it the Hong Kong shuffle. You can never really get a full stride in when you walk.

3. The food. I missed the convenience of a kitchen this week and Western food in general. I decided to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach and with a sour attitude towards Asian cuisine- NOT a good combo to say the least ($30 dollars later I was satisfied with a pasta, chicken, and Alfredo meal I made for myself).

4. Poor sign posts. I swear that the Hong Kong gov't has it out for Westerners. The directional sign posts for tourists are great; however, the signs for everything else always get me. The loop-around arrows, contradicting directions, and mass of escalators and footbridges makes the city very challenging to navigate sometimes. Today I spent half an hour looking for the China Resources Office to apply for my Chinese visa. I've also had horror stories in the past (looking for the student Octopus card office for example).

I definitely had a little bit of a rough week but things are looking up and I can't wait to live it up the last 4 weeks I have here in Hong Kong. I also can not wait for my mom to get here in less than a week!