dun danunt daaaa, dun dadaaa

dun danunt daaaa, dunununa naa naa naa!

Anna and I went to Macau yesterday and our theme song was Indiana Jones. We were adventurous. Well, we tried to be. It was hard to feel brave when the ferry seemed more like an airplane. But it was rainy so we were the only white folks in Macau except for two cute Austrian guys we met on the boat ride over.

It was really really fun. Macau is a cool place. Its like Hong Kong, only instead of being owned by Britain it was owned by Portugal for hundreds of years. There's lots of colonial Portuguese arctitecture that is really pretty and brightly colored. All the signs were in Portuguese and Chinese so we were doing some 'interpreting' which is similar to making up what you want things to say. We saw all the sights but skipped all the casinos. Most people only go to Macau to gamble. We saw Cathedrals, a fortress, a cemetary, a Chinese garden, a park, and a Portuguese resturant with good sangria. We also got some really good coffee and cake :)

My camera is broken, so I'll put up pics when I get them from Anna.


Today I'm off to Tsim Sha Tsui with Hannah and Beth to shop for art and a dress for Michael and Ashley's wedding. I'm trying to be productive in my last week in Asia, so Friday Hannah and I are heading to the mainland to do the Shenzhen thing. Go me, I'll have gone through immigration 4 times in 5 days.

Peace out Kiddies
Abby

Help I'm being oppressed!

In my procrastination routine during finals week, I like to read the news. I have dozens of headlines on my homepage that I usually ignore in favor of comics and facebook, but when one is procrastinating in earnest, the affairs of the world are of great interest. Unfortunately the news today pissed me off.

1. A crossdressing, gay high school senior was not allowed to attend his prom because he showed up in a dress. He looked lovely, his dress, hair and manicure were similar to any girl's. School reps pulled out a dress code rule about guys in skirts and made him miss a big milestone of high school life. A girl in a tux was allowed to attend. Good videos on cbs2chicago
   


2. Arlington Heights school district is trying to ban books for the first time in 20 years. The books are:
• "Beloved" by Toni Morrison,
  
• "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut,
  
• "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien,
  
• "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin,
  
• "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner,
  
• "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World" by Michael Pollan,
  
• "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky,
  
• "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers and
  
• "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez.
The school board member, Leslie Pinney, rallying to ban these books admittedly hasn't read them all. The district has an 'opt-out' policy that allows students to be excused from reading material their parents find inappropriate. Pinney says "The opt-out clause is flawed because unless you're digging around the student's backpack, looking at the books and reading them, how exactly will you know what your student is reading?" HELLO?!?!?! Parents are supposed to be involved in their kids' lives. They should all know what their students are reading! They shouldn't be depending on a team of strangers to ensure their kids are getting a good education. If you don't even know the names of the literature your kids are reading in class, how do you even know if they are attending class? Take a tiny bit of responsibility for goodness sake. Story


3. Chicago passed new legislation that puts fines on noisy parties and dogs. Noise levels are now judged solely by police officers, and noisy dogs are given 15 minutes to shut up before their owners are fined. Because people of all ages are children. If you can't walk across the street and come to some sort of agreement with your neighbors about noise, one of you is being unreasonable. If an 80-yr-old man has to tattle to mom--er, to the cops-- to get some peace and quiet, there is something wrong with society. Similarly, if you haven't the common courtesy to try not to disturb your neighbors without the threat of a fine, you are a bad person. Of course, I'm a problem solver, like my granddaddy. If you can't handle your animals, I'll just slip them some antifreeze and relieve you of the responsibility. Story
   

Ugh. People. America. Honestly.

I'm still alive. Dont Worry

busy busy. too much to do, and never the time to blog. apologies.

So I took my first official Hong Kong final on Wednesday. It was the Industrial Automation exam which is worth 80% of my grade. Pretty hard core, eh? It was not unlike other engineering exams I've taken, perhaps more open-ended though. I pretty much dominated it.... i think. One down, one to go, plus a paper to write.

Last night Beth, Anna and I saw the DiVinci Code. I have not read the book, and will not comment on it as an interpretation of a book. I thought it was pretty good, I wasn't bored as the reviews said I would be. It was kind of freaky, and I was startled several times. We were jumping. The random girl next to me actually screamed once. I thought it was pretty well put together, a lot of fancy special effects for a movie where nothing blows up. I'd recommend seeing it on the big screen, its probably not as impressive at home. The whole thing wasn't academy award worthy, but worth seeing.

Last night was crappy. Basically all the exchangers remaining were at Peak Cafe (where I had a delicious raspberry mojito) meh, fun-ish. Anyway at the end of the night I lost my cell phone in a taxi. Which totally sucks. Lost all the phone numbers of my lovers and such. Plus one of my girls was having a really tough night, which always makes me sad. Oh well, hope afresh in the morning.

Ok, cant' think of anything else right now..... Talk to you soon
Abby

Things I've learned in Hong Kong

Several of my friends have left Hong Kong this week, and so its starting to feel like the end. This got me thinking. Everyone told me I'd learn so much being on exchange and I think I have picked up a few lessons. Which I'd like to share.

1. Walking into a building from the street does not ensure that you are on the ground floor.
2. You never have to walk uphill, or upstairs. If you think you do, you just haven't found the lift yet.
3. "Cell Phone" is American for "Mobile". No one outside of the states speaks American.
4. There is nothing the Chinese won't eat, and nowhere they will not build. More specifically there's nowhere they won't build a mall.
5. Its better to eat the animal served with its head still intact, because there is less mystery about what animal and which body part you are about to ingest.
6. Midwestern women are the most adventurous eaters. Europeans will eat pizza with octopus on it, but are little nancy boys about a little cow tongue. Most girls can't handle an animal that looks at you.
7. The reason Chinese television shows are broadcasted in the states is that they aren't worth watching. Except the road show. But that only plays on the bus.
8. Buses aren't for poor people, they are for people with places to go. Cars are for people who have too much free time and too much money.
9. Octopus cards are the best thing ever. Every country should have them.
   
10. Midnight is a perfectly acceptable time to start a meeting that will last 3 hours. Because nothing important happens before 2pm anyway.
11. Cool local bars only exist in countries where local people drink.
12. There is a lot of gray area between commitment and addiction. People tend to judge to quickly.
13. Talking politics with a European who is drinking is never rewarding.
    
14. Window screens are not yet standard worldwide.
15. AIM is American. Everyone else uses MSN. Its not superior, people just think it is, because Americans don't use it.
    
16. In Chinese, there is no difference between the words 'he' and 'she'. This causes a lot of confusion when they are speaking English to you. They also don't understand plural.
17. Only the worst of American pop music makes it across the ocean. The closest thing I've heard to good music is U2. Or occasionally some really 80's pop.
18. Its acceptable for boys to have Hello Kitty sheets. Or to hold hands. Or to have sleepovers. And cuddle.
19. In Cantonese 'I don't understand' is the same as 'I have a question'. That's fricken brilliant.
20. Chesty and flirtatious is attractive in basically all cultures.
    

I'm sure I've learned other lessons. Stay tuned.
Abby

They say the neon lights are bright.....

On Broadway!

Alli took me to see "Broadway Hits in Concert" on Saturday night, as performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrea McArdle, Anne Runolfsson and Michael Maguire. Thats the original 'Annie', Julie Andrew's Victor/Victoria stand-in and a Tony winner. So they're good. Like, really good.
We got to hob-nob with the fancy people at the cocktail party before the show, we met the managing director of CICIS, the company financing the show, all the press people involved and one of the singer's boyfriend. Plus there was the free wine and hors d'oeuvres. Which were delicious.
The show was so good too! They sang music from Phantom, My Fair Lady, Wizard of Oz, Man of LaMancha, Thoroughly Modern Millie, West Side Story, Victor/Victoria, Chicago, Les Mis, Cabaret, Mamma Mia, Miss Saigon, Annie, and Beauty and the Beast. C'mon! What theater girl could ask for more??? So fabulous. Plus I now have a ticket stub that says 'VIP'. Which is awesome.

The rest of my life is filled with writing papers. I've not been out of the dorm in three days but to go out for a drink with Beth who (finally!) broke up with Shahar. Long overdue, and she's already talking about getting back together. ugh. girls.

Back to the Grind.
Abby

dunt dunt dununt dunt dunt dununt - danana.... danana...

Sorry I've not been attentive to my audience this week. Its been nuts. Last week of classes = lots of schoolwork

Some things in my world:
Thursday was the last day of classes here at HKU. I'm so done. Except for that whole "assessment" business. Thats still lurking in the future.
Friday was Buddha's Birthday. It was also Cinco de Mayo. I celebrated neither.
I went to see Mission Impossible 3 instead. It cruisetastic. I loved it. Lots of enormous explosions and plot twists.... you know so that the plot could essentially be the same as first movie. Also it was set partially in Shanghai so that was awesome. Yeah China. Best of all--- my future husband Jonathan Rhys Meyers was in it. He was in Match Point too, and he is so delicious.
My roommate has basically moved out. Two weeks ago Sunday she took off with a backpack and said she was going away to take care of some immigration stuff. The following Saturday she reappeared to put on a nice dress for some reason or another and left and hour later. Haven't seen her since. She said she's been staying with friends on the island, and people have seen her on campus, but she never comes home. I don't really miss her that much.
Our Gender Diversity poster projects were displayed on Wednesday and ours was well-recieved. Several students said they would do their final paper on the topic, and Brenda Scofield (our BDSM prof) was our grader and seemed really excited about it. I took the pics on Beth's camera so they aren't up yet, but soon, I promise.
Thursday was the last day of Canto (YAY!!!!) and we had to do our presentations. Two minutes per student in the group, on any topic. Cowboy, Kelly, Jon and I were together and we went out for lunch where Jon (playing Kelly's new boyfriend) hit on me while Cowboy (our waiter) picked up Kelly. It was quite amusing, with lots of inside jokes that would have been funnier had anyone understood what we were saying. I rocked it. I'm still a girl that loves the stage, even if the stage is the front of a classroom in HK. The only group that oudid us had Tiffany impersonating Michael Jackson. Canto speak, Jacko dance moves. It was amazing.

So what is upcoming in Abby's world? I have a three-page report on Dell's supply chain due Wednesday. Anyone wanting to contribute is welcome. I may be organizing the uploading of 8000 pictures to a centralized website for international students. We want to share, but its so hard. Tonight I'm doing something awesome with Alli, so I'll probably tell you all about it tomorrow.

May Tom Cruise be with You-
Abby
-if you couldn't decode it, my title is the mission impossible theme.

Happy Hong Kong Labor Day

No school today! Its Labor Day in Hong Kong.

That means I slept in, got lattes with the girls, studied some Canto, ate yummy food with Beth and dyed Kelly's hair. Its so dark and red. Its fabulous.

Beth and I made elbow macaroni with vinegar and oil dressing and green peppers and eggplant. It was the most delicious thing ever. You should be jealous.

That was my whole day. Basically. I'm blogging from Kelly's computer. That freaked out her roomie when she showed up while Kel was in the shower. Oh well.

I discovered a new comedian that I like. Demetri Martin. YouTube him if you will. Don't watch his Daily Show stuff though, its crap.

-Abby

P.S. Jon, I know you read my blog to stalk Miss Wisconsin 2006. Comment once and a while. Don't hide in the bushes, come in the front door. It's open.