Yay for a Roommate!

On my third day here, I came back to my dorm room one afternoon to find someone sleeping. "Uh oh...she's here," I thought. When we officially met about a day later when finally neither of us were sleeping, we really hit it off! So like I said, I had thought I had it bad with all that stuff, but man, did she make me feel better. She had had it even worse! Having to fly from Texas to San Fran before she could get to HK, she missed her connecting flight in San Fran because of a delay in Texas and had to stay over night without extra clothes. By the time she got to HK, she'd been wearing the same clothes for 3 days! She was somehow able to still smile and laugh about it by saying, "It's all part of the adventure." So I decided to adopt that too and that's how we've been getting through all the craziness that is the first few weeks abroad...in Asia.

So far there have been 2 cultural differences that have been especially hard for us to get over. One, there is no sense of chivalry in Asian culture. Two, it seems no one was ever told not to stare.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the public transportation here is incredibly efficient and clean! I absolutely LOVE the MTR! The system that is. The experience as a whole sometimes I am not quite as in love with. If you're not moving quickly enough or aren't willing to shove a little to get on/off, you will get pushed aside by men and women alike. When on the train, I've never seen a man offer his seat to a woman, despite the signs on the train that read, "Show you have a loving heart. Let's care for others!"

Last night, in fact, I was doubled over from a crippling stomachache that obviously had me in a lot of pain, and not one person even attempted to offer their seat. Then when we were arriving at the station, a man just stepped in front of me so that he could get out first, so out of frustration I shoved him aside so I could get out first! Oops! I know that wasn't very nice, but I couldn't hold it in! And it's SO rare that anyone apologizes for ramming into you! And on the occasion they do, I smile, applaud and thank them!

Another thing on the MTR is the starring. The other day, this old man in a suit was watching Laura and me. We thought, maybe if we stare back, he'll get the picture that we don't appreciate him looking at us. We tried, but man did he win! We just felt so awkward looking at someone like that, though he apparently did not. Then we noticed that even when someone else's body would obstruct his line of sight, we would just move so as to continue watching us. Very very uncomfortable, but "it's all part of the adventure!"