Rainy Days

The weather has gone from sunny, hot and humid to gloomy and cold over the weekend. Though I prefer chilly whether to the hot humidity, the gloomy weather makes me want to stay inside.

I also didn't realize how short of a time period I would be experiencing heat. I had packed so much more clothing for warm weather than cold weather. One of my friends didn't come prepared at all for cold weather.

Clothing isn't as cheap as I thought it would be here. Yes, cheap clothing can be bought at the street markets, but you get what you pay for. The quality of clothing on the streets isn't all that great. I prefer looking for good sales in the chain stores and malls where I can find items a little cheaper than sale items in America. Plus there's no sales tax.

Consumerism is really big here in Hong Kong. There are malls at nearly every stop on the KCR and MTR routes, and there are plenty of people in those malls, even on week days.

I'm finding it quite difficult to resist consumerism. Especially when it's raining and I want to go out, a mall is a great place to spend a day.

But it hit me really hard that I can't work here, and I didn't do a good job of saving money over the summer. So I'm basically spending my mom's money, and I feel terrible. I'm going to try to resist clothes shopping. And I've decided to try to eat in my room as much as possible instead of eating meals at the school canteens or eating out in the city. I also need to resist the temptations of all the bakeries and snack offerings in Hong Kong. Believe me, there are plenty.

I really need to start going to the gym. Though I do a good amount of walking here, it doesn't make up for the snacks and eating out. I also feel a little pressured to lose weight because of how thin the girls are here, and how some of the boutiques tailor to smaller girls. One store I went into only had sizes small and medium. I fit into the medium, but just barely.

At least no one has said anything to me about being bigger than most girls. One of my friends has been told she's a lot more buff than girls here, but that's probably because she speaks Cantonese to the locals. Unfortunately, my Cantonese isn't good enough to be able to do that.

I really only know certain words and phrases. But my Cantonese class is getting me a little more accustomed to speaking Cantonese. I know most of the words we've been learning in class already. But I normally don't speak them, so it's good practice.

Days are getting less exciting because of classes and lack of money. Life here is pretty similar to America. Eat, sleep, study and shop; though food selection is different (and much cheaper) and everyone else is speaking Cantonese.

I plan to go clubbing in Tsim Sha Tsui Thursday night. Friday my friends and I will go to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. I think this weekend we will see the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Next weekend we might take a day trip to Macau. My friends want to take a long weekend trip to Taipei, Taiwan sometime.

I hope travelling isn't too costly. I would like to go to Taipei, Shanghai and Guangzhou. I would also like to go to Vietnam, and maybe Thailand and Singapore. I probably can't afford to go to as many places as my friends want to go to. We'll see...