(8/28/2022)
I woke up this morning to 18 new bug bites, and my two from the previous days were quite inflamed and red. Nevertheless, I ended up joining the people on my dorm floor on a trip to a fishing village and the beach. I am honestly astonished by how many events I have been going to recently. It would not have been at all out of character for me to have taken the day to rest after everything that I’ve been up to for the last few days—the karaoke/hot pot dinner event of two days ago, and the hike I went on yesterday.
But, to explore as much as I can of Hong Kong before classes start, I’ve kept joining activities. And although I’ve been exhausted all the time–my legs feel ready to fall off from the steep uphill and downhill path from the hike yesterday, especially when we take a similarly steep path to the beach, it’s been worth it.
I’ve introduced myself countless times over the past week, my name, where I’m from, and my major (creative writing)—always a conversation starter that leads into a discussion of books, my planned path after college, etc.—but the conversations have all been really nice.
So, taking it from the top, the group met up at 1pm and walked to the closest MTR station. We scanned our Octopus cards (which are used primarily for paying for public transportation and at some stores, in addition to paying for the air conditioning and for laundry in the dorms) and found our first train. We stayed on for a few stops then switched trains, got off (scanned the Octopus card again, which calculates the charge based on where you first scanned it—I don’t have much experience with public transportation so I don’t know the system for paying for the metro in other places, but I assumed it would be more like buying a ticket for a particular stop; the Octopus method seemed a lot simpler). We got on a bus, and then we had arrived at the fishing village, where we had dim sum for lunch.
I’ve had dim sum before getting to Hong Kong, but this experience was distinct. To begin, when we got to the table, there were a couple tea pots filled with near-boiling water and an empty glass bowl. One member of our party, who is from Hong Kong, poured the hot water in the bowl, and began dipping the tips of everyone’s chopsticks, and then the cups, bowls, and spoons in the water to sanitize them, saying it was a tradition to ensure everything is fully cleaned.
The flavors in the food were quite different to what I was used to when I’ve had dim sum at home. Also, rather than ordering dishes separately, we got several dishes for everyone to share and then divided the bill equally between all of us. I can use chopsticks fairly well, but I’m still trying to learn how utensils are used in Hong Kong—often, by using a fork or chopsticks with one hand to eat, and then holding a spoon with the other hand beneath the food, I assume in case anything falls.
After lunch, we boarded another bus. I ended up sitting next to a guy from mainland China, and after exchanging information on where we’re from and a little bit of small talk, we began sharing songs. I’m not really one to start conversation, and he gave me the impression of not being super talkative either, but it was a nice way to exchange things about ourselves and the cultures we come from.
On the second bus toward our final destination (the beach), I hadn’t reached my seat before the bus started moving, and I didn’t walk toward my seat as much as I was propelled toward it.
I hadn’t thought to bring my swimsuit, so I sat on the beach with another student studying abroad, and we chatted about ourselves and our experiences of arriving in Hong Kong, but after that mostly just sat in silence with our thoughts, watching the view of the mountains and the water and the rest of our group playing in the water.
A little after sunset, we walked up to the bus stop. We had to wait 15 minutes since we had missed the last one, and when a bus arrived, I was very doubtful that we would all fit. And indeed, sardines could hardly be more packed more than we were. I could only hope that no one would fall over. People were packed up to the front door and if someone fell sideways at the front, they would’ve landed on the driver. There were too many feet for me to stand in a very stable way. I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily claustrophobic, but I don’t really like people to be super close to me, and someone’s backpack was pressed against me for the whole ride, but I preferred many times to be in that packed bus than outside at mercy of the biting bugs. I was amazed that at the progressive stops people kept boarding.
At one particularly sharp stop, someone did fall on me, but I managed not to fall over completely. I had thought we were packed tightly enough that we couldn’t fall, but it was more like dominoes. Luckily only a few of us were affected. Then we were at the metro, and it was just a short bus ride home. The charge was around 6 HKD for that final bus ride to get back, but students get a discount if they say suk se (“dorms” in Cantonese) to the driver. I gave myself the rest of the night off and ate a cup of noodles for dinner – my dorm floor has a machine for hot water and cold water, which can I just say is amazing.
I’ll write again soon!
Kelsi