Day 37

This weekend has been crazy.

Shortly before I came hear I found out that Kowloon, Hong Kong (where I live) was featured in the massively popular Call of Duty: Black Ops. The level, "Kowloon", featured a lot of buildings, connected at the roof by bridges or makeshift passageways and with lots of secret stuff to hide behind, good for firefights. It's the sort of environment you'd only expect to encounter in a place built with that purpose in mind. Since my first weekend here when I went to look for an apartment, it's begun to occur to me that these programmers didn't base their design of Kowloon on a stereotype, and did some research instead. After this weekend, I don't even have any disbelief to suspend when comparing their rendering of Kowloon with the real thing. Half an hour ago, I went to the fifteenth floor of my building by elevator, climbed two more stories of stairs, and then climbed a ladder, and I was on my own roof. No locks, no doors. I went to the edge (there was a railing) and looked straight down into the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. Rooftops are so cool. And of course, the rainy climate (still talking about this game) made sense, because it rains a lot here and sometimes results in Typhoon Warnings.

Over the weekend also my friends from the mainland came, of which one is teaching in Guangzhou, and one is working as a concert promoter in Shanghai. They're both from the States; I met one in Puerto Rico and another at Georgia Tech. The three of us reuniting in Hong Kong made it an excellent night.

To a student who is preparing to work abroad in the coming summers, I would recommend:
1. Find things before you need them. When I got here I had a problem finding a laundromat for a while, for example. If you find things that you think will come in handy, keep up with them for when/if they do.
2. Don't be a paranoid foreigner. Being careful in new places is all good and well, but don't be mistrustful of people for no reason. Be careful not to alienate people that could be trying to help you (see 1); talking to strangers instead of brushing them off is how I've established myself here, from finding an apartment to planning business ventures.
Lastly, 3. Pay attention to your surroundings. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." "When in Hong Kong, get money." Wherever you are, however, it's important to take stock of what is going on around you and adapt. If, for example, I watch other people to realize that the chopsticks are in a drawer underneath the table, then I'm learning from my surroundings and fitting in better. When you fit in better, you can assimilate into the culture, and be much more effective at your work as well as better understand the culture. Learn by doing.
[This includes assignment #9 for DoPP.]