Day 25

Macau was okay. Not great, but okay. I was surprised how small the island is. I took a lot of pictures; Macau's a scenic place. As I mentioned earlier Macau is famous for its casinos, but going there was a fun experience even without gambling (citation needed). When I got there, I got on a bus without knowing where it was going, got off at a place that I thought looked good, and walked across the island. It took me maybe an hour to walk around almost the entire thing. It was really scenic; the cliché saying that it's a place "where east meets west" is almost applicable. Almost. Something less appealing about the city was that it cost a triflin' $1000HK to stay in a hotel that night. As such, I got my black self back on the boat.

Moving on.
I AM GOING TO BEIJING.
Today I booked my ticket for my first trip into the Mainland: In through Shenzhen, out back to Hong Kong. The reason for this is that the fares from Hong Kong airport to get into the country are significantly more expensive because of government regulations, fees and things like that. Instead of paying another $100, I'm going to cross the border either Thursday night or Friday morning for an 8am flight (No work on Friday). My transfer will probably involve sleeping in an airport or something like that. On the positive side, I'm excited to go to Beijing, anyway. I'll get to see a few people from APSA (the program that helped me study there in 2009, and has adopted me as website poster child/model #1) and also AIESEC. I'm looking forward to going to the Capital again and enjoying the delicious baozi I haven't had for such a long time.


Yes. These awkward spaces mean that it is time for more prompted writing.

I haven't experienced culture shock. Actually I was more shocked by how un-shocking the culture was. Let me explain: In Beijing, there were no black people, hardly any white people, and driving around with a bus full of both completely alienated us from our surroundings. Of course we felt different. Here in Hong Kong, the community is (surprisingly) diverse; as I consistently point out the cultural mix here in Downtown Kowloon where I live rivals New York; really it does. That isn't an exaggeration. Tsim Sha Tsui is a micro-reflection of the immigrant communities that have made America the melting pot it is today.

...I see now that many of the questions in this week's prompt went with the assumption that I DID experience culture shock. Nice try, scoundrel.