The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Except there is no bad, just some goods and an ugly.

Goods: I went shopping today and tore up Times Square. Bought myself two adorabe new skirts, barrettes for my short hair, fancy bra straps, black stockings like a Hong Kong girl and a cell phone. So I'm totally local. Except I didn't get any flat boots yet, but there's always tomorrow.

The Ugly: My IGo broke!!! I'm on my last 50% of battery power on the old laptop and then I'm up a creek without a paddle. Every time I plug the laptop cord into the IGo box the little blue light disappears in a very unfriendly way. And as it is nearly 7pm, I fear this problem is not to be remedied tonight. So I'll miss chatting with all of you until this little fiasco resolves itself. (btw- Mom, I'm blaming this entirely on you. Weren't you the one who got me the IGo? Didn't you swear it was the thing to do? Now look at me, I'm a techmess.)

The Powerless Girl in HK-
Abby

New Pics

New pictures taken today are available in a whole new album. Link is on the right with links to my other albums. The newest album is shorter than the others and has hands-down the prettiest pics to date. Enjoy!

An American Girl In Hong Kong

Although I love you all very dearly, and will miss you very much, I'm never coming home. Today was such a beautiful day in Hong Kong that if I get one like this a week I'm never coming back to the states. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, it was warm and breezy and perfect. Also I looked fantastic. I wore my calf-length army-green H&M skirt with a white fitted button-up with very short sleeves. I also had on my gold fish-nets with my black flats with the gold trim. Trust me I couldn't have been more 'dorable.

So with the weather being *perfect* I walked to Westwood and then wandered around the area that is directly below campus (altitude-wise). I bought some raisin-buns in a little pastry shop and sat in Belcher Bay Park and ate them for lunch. The park is lovely (See? The pictures don't lie.)

I also spotted something fun from there. An Esso Station!!! Not really the fun place it is in Clemson, but noteworthy all the same.

I spent the entire afternoon walking around that area and ended up buying oranges from a street vendor and later a Cafe Mocha at my favorite coffee bar (you certainly recall the story of the fantastic Brit that occurred in my coffee shop). The whole day was soooo nice that I'm just never coming home. I know hearts are breaking all over the US but my darlings you'll just have to move here. Trust me, you'll thank me for it later.

Until next we blog-
Abby

A Family Force 5 near you

**This has nothing to do with Hong Kong**

But I can't resist because I'm so excited. Family Force 5 (a band I love love love) has their first CD coming out in March. And you can preorder it on their website. And you should.

Better yet you can go see them live. They are little touring fiends and are coming to a city near you! Find out when by visiting their myspace. Also take time to visit their website- which is seriously the coolest band website ever. You can listen to their music, see some videos and generally be entertained by their silliness.

And look! Me, Dia and some of the band. They said they liked my hair. Yeah for Abby in dreds.

Time Changes

Hong Kong is on the most fabulous college-student-friendly schedule. My earliest class any day is at 9:30am which at home would not be considered unbearable. My department only offers one class that meets earlier than this. Evidently 9:30 is pretty freakin' early in the morning.

At 9:30 this morning there were only 3 people in my class. By 9:40 when the professor finally started we were up to 12 and by 10 there were over 30. One guy came in at like 10:05 and one girl wandered in at 10:20, that would be five minutes before class was scheduled to begin.

The late night activities of the youth here make anything before 11 "too early". Its like perfection.

Thats all for now except I am adding another photo album to OFoto and I'll put the link up on my sidebar soon.

-Abby the late-riser

Ladies Man, Man's Man, Man About Town.... But a Woman Obviously.

So its been a jampacked couple of days, full of excitement. First I'd like to say that I wrote an entire blog yesterday just about my Gender and Sexual Diversity class (which I am super excited about) after which my comp froze and lost it. Later when I had recovered enough to consider a rewrite I noticed that my battery was dying because the electricity on my side of the room had gone out. So here we are nearly 24hours since the original disaster and I dare not broach the subject for fear of continued technology malfunction. You'll just have to wait.

I am willing, however, to tell you about more recent events. I've got I guess three little stories, so I'll break them up for your reading pleasure.

Wei Lun High Table Dinner
Last night was our first High Table Dinner which is a monthly event for each hall. The dinner is free (or rather you already paid for it with your hall dues) and it was held at the Bay View Restaurant. Which I might mention is refered to by students as the "cafeteria" and was named either 50 years ago, or with irony because though the windows face the bay, they are so overgrown with trees and bushes you cannot actually see the bay. We generally choose not to eat here because the food is.... sketch. Hannah (the aussie on my floor) once had french toast there that tasted like soy sauce.

Now High Table Dinner is a fancy little event, girls are required to wear skirts or dresses and all black and the gents show up in suits and ties. Although these HK boys are big into the brightly colored shirts and ties so they were a might more festive that we. I was in fine form, my straight black skirt and a turtleneck with dangley earrings and my little black and gold flats.

The seating arrangements are set up so that you sit at a table with girls from your floor and gentlemen from another. The 4th floor is apparently dating the 12th floor so 6 of us were seated with 3 12th floor boys. We apparently smelled bad because the other 3 chairs never were filled. Being losers of course Ally (from MO) and Hannah and I all sat together. Lucky too, because the other 3 girls chatted furiously in Cantonese. Unlucky was finding out that both Ally and Hannah are veggies. The menu for the evening included: Fried crab, broccoli in oyster sauce, pigeon, sweet and sour pork, two whole fish (heads and eyes still intact much to Hannah's horror) and rice. And fruit for dessert. As it turns out, being a vegitarian in HK is rather diffficult. And being a vegitarian anywhere in the world is retarded. In my opinion.

So the food was ok, the tea was horrendous (Hannah: "This tastes like a ashtray smells.") The company was sorta mediocre too, one of our boys (Keith) was an American, but the traitor speaks fluent Cantonese, and the big round tables aren't really cohesive to conversation across them anyway. The only real nonsense that went on was the singing of the Hall Song (the longest song ever concieved by man which nearly everyone knew by heart and we are pretty sure is to the tune of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory song (original movie). This thing had like 12 verses and girls parts and boys parts and harmony and everything. Other than that they just had us stand to welcome the guests of honor (who were apparently University Heads of something or other) and we had to wait to be excused.

After dinner was a Hall Meeting with a speaker and presentation of some sort which we were excused from as it was to be entirely in Cantonese. At this point the decision is made to abandon hall activities in favor of hitting the town. Attempts were made to drag Keith along, but apparently he is a good person and attended the Cantonese thing instead of faking that he wouldn't understand. Thus ended my first High Table Dinner, which according to reliable sources "Has really gone downhill. These things just aren't what they used to be." Tragic.

How to be a cliche exchange student, Why I hate girls, and The Navy rocks.
As all Cantonese-speaking locals were trapped at the Hall Meeting the hitting the town crew ended up being all international students.

A profile of the crew: Hannah the crazy Aussie, Ally the American Vegan, Beth the Cali/Berkley half-Chinese on her mother's side girl, Rudolf the Hungarian Aussie, and two other guys with forgettable names that I believe were also forgettable Canadian. Later two Swedes joined us, but they are not important in our story.

After a quick cigarrette (I am positively the only international student who does not smoke) and a change of clothes, the 7 of us caught a bus to the downtown area (which has a Chinese name I cannot at this time spell) also known as the Red-Light District. There are about a thousand bars smashed in between a thousand strip clubs. Wednesday night is ladies night most places and, as it turns out, the US Navy was in town so everyplace was packed. Eventually we found a place with enough free table space for us all to sit down.

We killed about 2 hours there, and due to the cramped space and ackward seating arrangements I basically just chatted with Rudolf the whole time. And being an Aussie born in Hungary who has just lived 3 years in Europe, he was fascinating. We love all the same things about Europe and hate all the same things about hanging out with the international crowd. Eventually things got too uncomfortable with at the other table (I found out later that one of my girls had slept with one of the forgettable Canadians the night before and she is still interested, but he was being cool. Girls are so stupid.)

As it was now about quarter-past twelve, most of the bars were closing and everything was looking quiet so we hopped some cabs and went up to [some street with all the night clubs that has an unspellable Chinese name] where we met up with the Swedes. The place to go seemed to be a club called insomnia where there was live music and no cover charge for ladies.

The band was actually really good, an asian band that played a lot of Black-Eyed-Peas covers as well as a bunch of other rercognizable American music. The downside of Insomnia is that it was so crowded we couldn't get a table and so loud we couldn't talk. Which was actually fine with me because in the cab ride over with the girls I had heard phrases like "I need to learn to love myself" and "Relationship sex is always better, but he was pretty good for a one-night-stand". Reiteration of how dumb girls can be. Also how much these particular girls aren't really my style.

The major plus of Insomnia is that there were tons of young American Navymen there looking to celebrate. They were all on their way home from the middle east.

Now the girls said they's like to meet some cute guys and dance which is apparently code for 'we want to stand around and shoot guys down and then go pout and cry in the ladies room' Abby politely attended one weepy trip to the bathroom and gave a hug and danced with cute guys. They were all from Cali and all having a blast in HK.

Eventually the fun of half-heartedly dancing and elbowing guys away wore off and the boys we came with weren't really having a better time (I don't think the white boys really dance) and so we headed home. After 12 the buses don't run so two cabs brought us all back to Wei Lun at about 2am.

How Buffalo Soldier became the theme song for great butts
After class today I had to run to the Wellcome in the mall and thought I'd treat myself to a latte treat while I was there. There is a lovely little coffee shop in the mall where you can get a ham and cheese croissant and a vanilla latte for the equivalent of $4US.

While I'm sipping my beverage I notice this British guy sitting at the next table wearing great jeans, a black turtleneck and gorgeous green eyes. I know he's British because I heard him talk to the server guy. I just sort of enjoy the view for a few minutes because he has a really pretty face with that sort of constant, rugged 5 o'clock shadow and perfectly gelled, professionally tousled hair and the afore-mentioned green eyes.

Part of the appeal of this particular java joint is the unpredictable mix of music that plays there. There's no theme, no time period, no genre, its not even all a consistent language. So just after the song Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley comes on, GreenEyes needs a napkin or a fork or something and he gets up and walks across the cafe.

HOLY CRAP!!! Nicest Butt I've ever seen. Ever. Its epic. To quote the great Rod Burgandy "I want to be friends with it. I mean it is gooood." He's got those really good-fitting pants on that are a little distressed and its basically the highlight of my week. Best latte I ever had.

Anyway at this point I slow the pace so I can enjoy this creature as long as possible and I managed to nibble my croissant through "Still Rock 'n Roll to Me" by Billy Joel, "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones, some J-Pop ballad, and most-notedly "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice durning which he removed his turtleneck revealing a rather snug t-shirt that indicated what was on top was just as good as the bottom half.

Best Latte I ever had.

Until next time!
Abby

Tuesday Contents

Being particularly full of things to share today I broke up my blog into 4 parts. Feel free to read any and all that spark your interest, but for those short on time pick and choose.

Pt. 1 - Commute- Why Abby loves the walk to school
Pt. 2 - Granola- How a quick stop in the supermarket improved Abby's whole life
Pt. 3 - Environment- tale of Abby discovering she's become a Southerner
Pt. 4 - Punxsutawney Abby- weather and smog reports from HK

Ok. Read with caution.

I'm a Commute Addict

Here are some reasons I love walking to school

1. Its good exercise. For a girl who's never seen the inside of a gym, two forty-minute hilly walks a day is primo exercise

2. It gives me a glow. All that walking in the wind gives my face a flush thats quite becoming.

3. Its good for my hair. A little sweat on my scalp makes my hair curl and gives it volume.

4. I feel like a model. With the speeding traffic just inches away from the sidewalk, there's a blustery wind that picks up my hair like in a photoshoot windtunnel.

5. It makes me wear flat shoes. I bought flat shoes just to wear here, but my natural inclination is to reach for the heels. I tried that once and regretted it so now I'm wearing flats like all the locals

6. It prevents injury. Tall shoes are bad for my legs. Being forced to wear my flats is repairing the damage already done and preventing the stress fracture Dr. Emily predicted.

7. It improves my mood. No matter what state I set out in, by the time I'm done walking I'm in a good mood. I don't know if its those endorphins I've heard so much about or 40 minutes of thinking about that windtunnel thing, but my walk is like taking an upper.

8. It gives me time to think. The world is full of pressing questions and I have time to ponder them seriously while I walk. 'Do the Chinese use abbreviations? If each word is only one symbol how do you shorten that?' and 'Is my right butt cheek flatter than my left since my bookbag rests more comfortably there? If it is how do I even them out?' Before I started walking I don't know when I managed to figure these things out.

9. Its cheaper than the bus. If a penny saved is a penny earned then I earn $2 every time I walk. Now $2 in HK is only about 25cents but I figure by the end of the semester I'll have earned myself a new pair of shoes.

10. Its less terrifying than the bus. While I've figured out the routes and schedules, the bus is still a scary place. The drivers yell at everyone in Chinese and hurtle through the streets like Czech taxi drivers. I surprised every time I get off the bus alive.

Now its not all rainbows and bunnies. There are a few things I dislike about my walk-
Its long, sweaty, windy and makes me wear flat shoes.

But every silver lining has its dark cloud right?
(Ok Randa, I'll quote it but I still don't know where we heard it.)

Granola is a Creature Comfort

Since I was in the neighborhood I decided to stop at the Wellcome supermarket today. I picked up a few things that have taken my life from good to fabulous.

First was a mug. I've been borrowing Tracy's and now I have my own. Which has a monkey on it. Well I think its a monkey.

Next was some instant coffe. Now I know you're thinking that instant coffee could not possibly improve anyone's life, but here's how it is. Today before class I picked up a vanilla latte at starbucks. And I admitted to myself that the tea I've been drinking in the morning is not cutting it. I was all 'when in rome' trying to drink tea, but this girl needs some coffee. There being no coffee maker in our pantry (which is actually a big room with an entire kitchen, couch and tv in it) I got instant. There's a water heater thing for tea that works just as well on instant coffee. Or as I've discovered, Ramen.

Ok I also got some Granola cereal. I love granola, and its a much healthier snack than the Girl Scout cookies I've been munching on.

I got a bowl. Its quite a pretty bowl and it holds granola or soup or other bowl-like things.

Finally I got some chopsticks. I'm pretty decent with chopsticks, but when I'm really hungry my skills degenerate and while most restauants have plastic forks around they are in a dispenser marked 'retard utensils' and if you use them they actually make you wear a big 'L' on your forehead. So now I have my own chopsticks to practice with and use at home.

So that trip to the store improved my life ten-fold. Pretty sweet.

I'm a product of my Environment, y'all

Its sad but true. Going to class today proves it. I've developed some very Southern inclinations.

To start, I'll tell you a bit about class here at HKU. My class today, a 2-hour lecture in Supply Chain Development and Management, started at 10:50. At 10:45, I came in and took a seat amongst only 3 other students. By 10:50 the classroom was about half-full (maybe 30 students) and very noisy. Everyone sat to the very back of the class (not hard as there were only eight rows in a very wide roundish room) and everyone seems to be old old friends. At 10:52 Dr. Ng flicks on the projector, turns off the lights and starts talking into the microphone. Little Abby shuts her mouth puts her pencil at the ready and gives her full attention to the teacher. Every other person just sort of keeps chatting. After a few seconds the chatter quiets, but does not stop. It just continues at a lower volume. Also for the next 45 minutes students continue to trickle in. There were 3 people who came in chattering and laughing together literally 35 minutes after class started. They came in, plopped down in the third row and continued to talk amongst themselves. And all I could think was 'how incredibly disrespectful.' Strike one. Respect for one's elders and instructors, an idea in the north- a practice in the south.

As I'm trekking around campus I've found the best ways to get around this campus in a hillside is by cutting through buildings, using elevators to get from front to back. I am constantly expecting the door to be held open for me. Especially when there are men going through before me or waiting on the other side. But men of all ages are dropping doors in my face. Its particularly surprising when they open the door and instead of holding it for you, they cut you off and barge through themselves. Strike two.

And finally, I'm a freak. I keep grinning like a fool at every person I meet eyes with on the street and I keep getting mouth smiles back. That quick, closed lip, mouth only smile that acknowledges you. No smiling cheeks or eyes. I'm just friendlier than them. Because I'm a southerner. A painful but seemingly true fact.

What have you dont to me South Carolina?!?!?!

Punxsutawney Abby predicts 6 more weeks of Winter

I saw my shadow today!!!!!!! I'm not a groundhog and its not Feb. 2, but its the first shadow sighting since my arrival in HK.

Now it was a short lived experience as the sun just peeked out from behind the heavy cloud cover, but lovely just the same. Today I had a very nice view of the harbor and the sea, but what I've now decided isn't fog, but smog, prevented my pictures from capturing the scene. They turned out gray and gloomy and the boats look like smudges in the mist and you can't really see the waves. These pictures were deleted in anger.

Nonetheless the short sighting of the sun was a promise of things to come. As in someday the weather will improve. Here's to that.

Interior Decorating

I've been struggling with the fact that I have a large empty white wall next to a large empty corkboard and that is my entire side of the room. So I found some hooks and decorated the side of my wardrobe a la Melissa and Ashley. My Clemson girls inspired this little piece of fashion wall art. Not only do they decorate with their accessories but two of these bags were gifts from them. Thanks girls ;)

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions for inexpensive ways to cover my walls in fun (keeping in mind the Brad Pitt posters are few and far between round here) please tell me. Or, better yet, if you would like a picture of yourself tacked over my desk and later featured on my blog, feel free to send a picture to:
420A Wei Lun Hall
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Actually send anything you want to that address... as long as its not alive... or dead... or smelly or ugly... or gross... or stolen, broken, illegal or dangerous.

Yours-
Martha "Abby" Stewart

HK day 4 My life in Pictures

Hello friends, foes, and readers of all kinds.
I took a plentiful lot of pictures today and instead of spending hours trying to put them into a cohesive blog, I'm going to post them in OFoto and let you browse them that way. The comments should be amusing, or at least explanatory, so read and peruse at your leisure. In lieu of an actual blog entry today I've left you a charming little story. Its entitled "I Want to Unswallow... or The Girl Who Tried Too Much Too Fast" and you can find it below.

Ok my pictures are available at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=w7khfmi.5wnlrsoq&Uy=w4nkck&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=38719367423_486335146106
Oh, when you get there, the site will want to you sign in. You don't have to. On the right, below the continue button there's an option to view the photos without signing in. But then you'll have to email me and tell me you saw the photos. Otherwise how will I know that I'm being kept track of?

Until Next Time-
Abby

I Want To Unswallow... or The Girl Who Tried Too Much Too Fast

Let us lay the scene. A pretty, young American girl skips out the front door of her Hong Kong dorm and down the busy street. Her perky red curls shine in the sun, she's perfectly outfitted for the windy, cool day in denim capris, a black turtleneck, black and gold flats and a dark teal jacket. Her yellow croc skin purse is tucked neatly under her arm and her long silver earrings bounce between her curls and her neck. She brightly trots down the two hundred and sixty-three steps to the entrance of the Westwood Mall.

Inside she finds all sorts of treasures (like much needed nail polish remover and Clemson orange hangers) and after an hour or so of shopping she spots a McDonald's. She pauses. She thinks. While she hates to be the only American in a McDonald's or to be looked at in that obese stereotypical way, some salty fries sound mighty tasty. She struggles, but eventually gives in knowing that no amount of delicious pork lo mein will satisfy her now that those french fries are in her mind.

So she orders a sandwich, a diet coke, some hot fresh fries. She sits back in the corner, out of sight. She gorges. Its so delectable and greasy and the young girl is in fast food heaven. So she inhales the fries and the crispy chicken sandwich and the surprisingly small coke.

And it hits her. She is a long way from home. And her belly is now very full. And she's on foot.

The unhappy girl wanders about the mall for another 20 minutes hoping to digest, but its getting dark out and it will be cold soon. So she walks out into the street. Luckily here in Hong Kong they are very sensible and would never expect a fashionable young lady to trudge up 263 steps. There's an outdoor lift (that's an escalator to you western-folk). But soon she reaches the top of the lift and her belly no emptier and her journey no shorter. The girl takes a deep breath and starts out.

She walks slowly, not wanting to overexert herself. For a while she is fine. Uncomfortable, but fine. Soon though, the course home takes her uphill. She soldiers on, trying to keep a brave face. Those fries are now fighting to break through the wall of her stomach and escape their tiny prison. The thought dawns on the girl that she may throw up. Well that certainly isn't a very good idea. Not just the thought of regurgitating in public on a city street or the second-time-round taste of McD's. No, even if she did throw up, she has no water, no gum, no mints and she's still a quarter of her walk from home. Throwing up is not an option.

Of course now the thought is there, and it seems she'd be so much happier without all those fries and chicken sandwich. The final leg of her journey is plagued with the constant battle of which would be the less of the two evils: the taste of vomit or the ache in her belly. She finally makes the last few steps round the corner of her building and begins to feel the release of relief when.....

There it was. That ridiculous flight of steps one must climb to reach an elevator. And so she climbs. It pains her to do so, but she is so very close to her room, her bed, a pair of pants with an elastic wasteband. She drags herself up the last few steps, around the corner to the elevators, into an elevator, out of an elevator, down the hall around the corner and up to her door. She leans on the door and fumbles for her keys. Inside she kicks off her shoes, already feeling better with room for her feet to stretch. She drops her bags, her yellow purse, gently shakes off her jacket and falls onto the bed where her belt and pants are immediately removed. For a half of an hour she lay still. Then she blogged about what a silly, stupid girl she really was.

Days 1&2 Settling In

Local Time: 2:09pm
So Hello! I'm actually in Hong Kong!!! Ok no more exclamatory remarks. It took me a while to get my comp sync'ed up with the techie things here but we're online and good to go.

So to sum up the boring travel things: Plane came in on time, I flew through customs, my bags were the first ones off the belt (miracle and together too) and I was in a cab and to my dorm in no time. Checked in, moved in, unpacked and collapsed. Met the roomie (Tracy, more about her to come) and went to orientation Thursday morning.

Orientation was as expected, long generally boring, but there were a ton of exchange students there, I'd say over 40 from the US alone. Lots of others from mainland china, Singapore, Japan and Korea and a decent showing from Australia and Canada. The others were from assorted places in Europe.

So interesting things:
This is my tiny room.


The pink bed is mine (because in China I do everything different I decided to go all out on my girlyness) The mess on that side of the room is mine too.


This is the building that contains my room. Sorry about the quality on these its been foggy. Wei Lun Hall is 14 floors and you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the elevator. So much for handicapped accessible. There's a rumor that there's another American and an aussie on my floor but I've yet to meet them.


This is the view from our window. Unfortunately I took these on a foggy day so you'll have to use your imagination. The green in the background of the second one is actually a lovely green mountain.


For those concerned about my health the large white building across the street is a hospital.

Ok a few words about my roomie and then I'll save the rest for another day. Tracy Wu is from mainland China and is a freshman. She's supercute (pic soon) and very nice and helpful. Her English is very passable and she's a math major. She speaks mandarin and Cantonese and is starting Japanese this semester. She's also in the process of immigrating to the U.S. She's bound for LA where she has family.

Until next time, leave some comments and questions (especially questions) cuz there's so much to say I don't really know where to start. Or stop. hmm.

Love!
Abby

Hong Kong T minus 12 hrs

Ladies and Gentlemen, please complete your pre-flight checklists and report your go/no-go status to your superior. At this time we will begin all lift-off checks, tests and procedures.



So. My suitcases are packed (as full as they'll get), weighed (both just under the 50-lb limit), and successfully zipped (not an easy task). My carry-ons are as put together as they can be before I've dressed and primped. My room is a complete disaster and my clothes for the morrow are laid out (on top of the mess of course). Thats right, in the last 24 hrs I've washed, dried, folded, compressed and packed; inventoried, shopped, and packed; hung-out, shopped, dined, and watched a movie with my father; and all after I got out of bed at the crack of 11am.



Mom and Em have both successfully exited the state, and mom has managed to only phone once to check up on me. I've said my good-byes to all my lovers (Brit, Randa and Sara [though Sara and I have been keeping our distance as she has mono. Get well darling!]).



Plans: awaken at 7am CST. Shower, dress, pack the car, depart at 8am. Arrive at O'Hare International Airport between 9 and 10am. Board at 11:35am. Take-off at 12:05. Arrive in HK 16 travel-hrs and 14 timezone-hrs later (for those still struggling with the math on this, it should be about 6pm, Wednesday local time). Begin having fabulous adventures approximately 4 minutes later. And that is all.

Until China,
Abby

*The pictures were added for your entertainment and in no way relate to the text of this post.

Hong Kong T minus 35 hours

Oh man, we're coming down to the line now. Let me lay the scene for you. At o'dawn o'clock tomorrow morning the fam minus me head out for the airport and the city. Emily leaves for school and mom is going to exotic Wisconsin after work tomorrow. Dad's coming home. He still likes me. I am now about 35 hours from my noon Tuesday take-off. Am I ready? you may ask. Well lets survey the situation in pictures:


This is my unwashed laundry that needs to be washed and packed.



This is the floor of my room. Very organized. Obviously I'm completely packed already.



This is the pile of clothes I've decided not to take. I'm actually quite proud of this.



And on the upside of everything, my new haircut still looks fantastic!



So I've been doing my usual unfocused, disorganized, stream of consciousness packing all day and I'm pretty sure that gave mom an aneurysm. She tried not to show it and I let her pack a little of my stuff. But in my IE world I can't really commit to putting anything in a suitcase until I have all the stuff ready to be packed. Also I don't pack by clothing type, but by size. Mom put all my underwear in a pocket. [shakes head] This makes no sense. Underwear are so small that they beg to be shoved into corners and gaps between stacks of pants. Oh well.

I'll close by saying that I have not yet begun to panic. I'm sure I will eventually, but right now I've got the CD Miranda made me for my birthday going and I finally found the right cord for my camera. So, basically, I'm pleased as punch. Also mom found some month old SweetTarts in my backpack... yum!

Until next we cybermeet-
Abby, the distracted and unconcerned

Hong Kong T minus 5 days

Haircut Day!!!!!
See?

So before heading for haircut central (aka Anna's) Miranda and I met up at B&N for some lattes and literature. We bought the Worst Case Scenario Survival Guide for Weddings and Dress Your Best by the What Not to Wear crew. Be not alarmed. I am not getting married. I repeat, ***I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED*** (Being of a pretty age, I'm attending several weddings in the next year and will be the maid of honor at Sara's in June '07. Gotta prepare.) We also got the awesomest bookmarks ever. They're pens. Fantastic.

Then it was on to BK and Anna's then back to the mall where I failed to run into anyone I knew with my new hair. Oh Well.

Now I'm off to Stitchin' to show off the new locks to the ladies.

See you on the flip side!

Hong Kong T minus 6 Days

It is January 11th, six days before Abby leaves for Hong Kong. On a whim, today is to be known as Blog Creation Day. So what is special about BlogC Day? Hmm. Let's see.

Today was my last day to hang out with the lovely Miss Britt. We hooked up some Pizza Hut, ran errands, and got manicures. Yay! Pretty nails are perfect for travel.

Me and my sis watched about a half a decade of I love the 80's 3-D. That'll make you want to rob Blockbuster. So much quality. Although they did talk about some guy that made up a dictionary of made-up words, but I truly doubt it compares to the Dictionabby. Let's face it. The Dictionabby is revolutionary. Its hip and modern and the words are instantly indispensible to your vocabulary.

Okay, so what about that Hong Kong business? Here's the deal. I will be attending the University of Hong Kong for the Spring semester of 2006. I'm studying Industial Engineering (though usually at Clemson University). I'm leaving on Tuesday, January 17th and shall return the 5th of June. I will be living in the dorms at HKU in a place called Wei Lun Hall.

Still on the agenda- Packing. I'm limited to two 50-lbs bags plus carry-on. Being a serial over-packer, this is an immense challange (hence the procrastination). I still need to figure out my phone stuff too. Oh, and I need to test out my electronics on my I-Go. I guess that's the most urgent stuff.

So I'll be back here tomorrow after I [dramatic drumroll] chop off my hair. Pictures will be available for your veiwing pleasure. I may also be persuaded to comment on the movie Syriana which I am going to see right now.

Later Friends and Lovers!