A Life Less Ordinary

This post may become hard to read at any moment because I just got back to my room in Hong Kong after a nine hour flight from Moscow full of that ubiquitous drunk Russian crowd. They clapped when the plan landed. Since when do we clap for that? Isn’t that expected? I don’t clap when the McDonalds guy gets my sandwich right for when the Metro shows up. WTF Russia?

Any who, I want to phrase this carefully: my trip to Vienna was incredible. Vienna is a great city, but it was the time spent with Bekah hanging out watching movies or just drinking delicious hot chocolate in the Hitler Cafe that made the whole thing worthwhile. I loved the old library in the Hapsburg Palace and Schonbrunn was glorious. I so much enjoyed just walking through the chilly streets with a jacket, scarf and girlfriend at my side, taking in the old architecture and generally cold Viennese people. We had great food and Bekah was kind enough to take me to the Wachau (“Va-cow”) which is Austria’s Napa Valley. It was a great experience, made all the better spending it with Bekah watching West Wing.

What I will say about my trip is that it has made me crazy. Being away from everyone you care about is a strange situation in and of itself, but then being with someone you care about so much and then taken away from then again is sort of like pleasureful punishment. I miss Christmastime and snow and cold things now more than ever, especially seeing the smog ridden Hong Kong hills outside my window. It’s good timing, I suppose, that the smog rolls in in October around here, I think that’s when attitudes start changing as well. Many of you will probably get bored with me saying that I miss DC Chili nights for getting dinner with family in Minneapolis, but even someone who is as lucky as I am, who gets to to travel and live abroad, nothing is more important than the time spent with people you care about.

Also, I’m going to learn how to make Wiener Schnitzel because we had the most banging meal of schnitzel, fries, and radler (1/2 beer, 1/2 lemonade). Bruschetta is another one I’m adding to my made up recipe book.

I’ll post Vienna and Mom/Jeff pictures later today probably.

Well my friend Kate had a lot of her things stolen from her in Tanzania. I feel so bad for her, but in a way I also know that she is the kind of awesome person who will use the experience of losing trust in a culture only to be thoroughly exhilirated by the outpouring of support I know she’ll get. She has a lot of our support from the rest of us, even if we’re scattered around the world as if Michael J. Fox drew a scatter plot. (That was harsh, but I got it from Bo Burnham, classic YouTube.)

I’ve had a blast so far with Mom and Jeff (Big Beard and Squeaky, FYI) and they’ll have some really great stories to tell I’m sure. I know they will, but I also hope they weren’t to culture shocked or disappointed in Hong Kong. I’ve decided that HK really is a great place to live, if not to tour around all the time. We did visit the Big Buddha for the first time and I’ll have to post my pictures later, but it was amazing. It made me think of Kathmandu and what an awesome time Melanie must be having there. There was just large mountains, and temple pagodas sticking through forests, all viewed from the pinnacle of a large Buddha.

I leave for Austria on Wednesday. Random, you think? Who would’ve thought I’d be going to Hong Kong only to travel to Europe, but since I’ve been blessed with time to travel in November so I decided to spend my two year anniversary with beautiful Bekah in wonderful Vienna. Plus, I could do for some street cafes and mashed potatoes. I’m excited and also freakishly looking forward to the long flight if only to get some work and reading done and make up some sleep time.

Until I get back on the 21st and see my readership decline to zero, farewell.

PS: Caroline, I expect you to not let me drop to zero!

I’m in that mood of a focused ADHD person. Oxymoronic, you say, but everyone has those moments where they are extremely focused on things they shouldn’t be working on and carefree about things they should be caring about. I’m collective a Hong Kong bucket list, thinking in Chinese, reading about bond prices, wishing I could fly, hoping for good weather, returning to Wikipedia, cursing our internet connection, watching Twins recaps, not studying history and singing along to that song of the moment I often find on iTunes, which happens to be “On the Wing” by Owl City at the moment.

This week is midterms for us and I don’t really care. That isn’t really an attitude I’m accustomed to, but when your Chinese professor gives you the exam ahead of time and the finance professor tells you the project at the end of the year is explicitly for you to gain points lost on the midterm, your caring-o-meter has a knock for nosediving. However, I am thrilled to say that my mom and Jeff are arriving tomorrow night. I know they’re both excited, as am I, and they both deserve it. I’m so grateful to be able to host them and I hope they both enjoy their time here. It also means that  I wont’ be posting with a lot of regularity, so sucks for you Caroline.

Being away from somewhere you know well and love is an odd experience. Truly, it makes one grow fonder of those moments you enjoy and remember from home. However, I’ve happily started making some of those moments here in Hong Kong, where I’ve been here long enough to replay in my mind funny or otherwise memorable moments. Here are some that constantly are in my mind from Minneapolis, DC, and Hong Kong.

For some unknown reason I keep mentally refering to a soccer game my cousin Nikki was playing in. It was a damp, fairly miserable Minnesota night. The lawnchairs were all unfolded, the women laced up for play and my Goddaughter Avy and her twin Annika were anxious to leave their mothers arm. I vividly remember chasing them with Adam and Kramer on the southside of the field, watching them run and eventually crash into one another with giggles. I was about to leave for DC and start both my sophomore year and my first internship at the Joint Economic Committee. Crystal’s excitement for me was palpable, and I will always remember her encouragement.

The crunch of the ancient earth beneath my feet was hardly noticeable under all our heavy breathing. We continued to climb, but all I can recount exactly who was on the same set of steps as I, as words of encouragement were passed from one practical stranger to another. Suddenly, Molly and Amanda, our fit ROTC girls shouted from ahead that we were close. Sighs of excitement rang up in our small band, we had finally made it to the base of the Great Wall. The first view was the most memorable.

Alexa is a crazy bitch. As we walk down 19th street she keeps telling me phrases in Chinese, in hope of my learning survival tactics before I arrive. She keeps confusing English, Arabic, Chinese, and German. No wonder we make fun of her for her languages. We first pass the most clearly marked World Bank building, crossing Pennsylvania Ave just blocks from the White House. I turn and see my freshman dorm. Beyond more World Bank buildings is the hill that we will struggle with on the return after our delicious burritos. It’s just after dark and mid-March, my favorite weather. Light jacket and jeans.

Our little band of misfits is yelling at the top of our lungs. Its the second night of an unfortunately bitterly cold Spring Break, but we’re braving the wind on the third story porch in Waves. Over the sand dunes, the sound of the ocean is barely noticable above the laughter at my attempt at the tree yoga pose, on a stool nonetheless. Hooka is being taken in, and Matt and Bekah are deep in conversation. Melanie and I are in matching George Washington University sweatshirts, but our relative size difference makes it easy to differentiate us, or so we were told.

So many other memories, but now I’m off to watch the celebrations of China’s National Day. Beijing is basically closed down due to parades, celebrations, etc and Hong Kong is supposed to have a firework show tonight. Citizens gather up to 4 hours before hand to get good spots though, so I don’t know how close we’ll get.

Friday was another awesome day in the life of Evan the Lame. Sidenote: I just read a chapter in my Chinese history book about a young man named Tamerlane, or Tamur the Lame in his native language, who raped and pillaged every town from northern Turkey to southern India, so “lame” isn’t so bad. Apparently he was a cripple, which I am not. Anyway,  I had two God awful classes and then came back and took the first nap I’ve taken in Hong Kong. I woke just in time to see half my program and all my friends off to some marathon cooking class they had signed up with awhile back. I didn’t come here to play Top Chef, so I skipped that. What I did do was get lost in the chaos of Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei, the neighborhoods around where I love.

The pedestrian traffic at night on many of these streets is so heavy that cars wont even try to get through. I put my iPod to “Where the Streets Have No Name” and walked it out all the way down with only my camera in tow. It was a blast. I loved just walking down the streets with my music in, among the crowds I felt alone. My friend Melanie once said that loneliness can breed contentment and I completely agree. I was alone because of choice and seeing Hong Kong on my terms.

Saturday was definitely not on my terms, as I was required to attend a school fieldtrip. It was a flashback to that third grade trip to a farm that everyone in suburbia takes. It’s supposed to awaken us to the hard life of a farmer, but I just thought it stank and wondered why we needed cows for milk. Isn’t this the 21st century? Where’s my instant food maker? Nonetheless, the 11 of us and my favorite professor, Prof. Hase, struck out towards the HK Museum of History. Professor Hase is a stocky older man who has to sit the length of our two hour lectures on Thursday and Friday. He majored in Ancient English Ecclesiastical Studies, but somehow found enough brain space to store an incredible amount of Chinese historical knowledge. He’s brilliant, and he reminds me of Prof. Slughorn from Harry Potter to boot, accent and all. The museum was great, especially with Hase telling us how he is on the advisory board and helped purchase a lot of the storefronts that line the “HK in the Early 20th Century” exhibit. Quite spectacular. Due to the heat (96 degrees and 93% humidity), we cut our visits to Chi Lin nunnery and Kowloon’s Tin Hau temple a bit short, but those were both great as well. Saturday night a group of us went for our tri-weekly Mexican, to a restaurant called Agave in LKF, the local club/bar district. Agave had the best margaritas I’ve ever had (Which of course arne’t many), especially the Wild Berry ones. So good. That’s all I have for Agave, though.

I won’t write any more and bore you all. I did however put up new pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/evanjdoran. Thank you for reading!

It has been extremely hot these last few days. Everyone here changes outfits a lot during the day. It’s like being a middle school girl, having to change clothes, but this is out of necessity. The alternative is looking like you just swam in Victoria Harbor with your clothes on. There are a lot of refreshing things I’ve seen and experienced here though and I thought I’d share some of them with you.

Air conditioning is refreshing. When walking down any of the main streets here, we often split up to stand on the stoops of various 7-11’s and other stores blasting air out their fronts. It’s a great way to both develop a sniffle and avoid heat stroke. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t I suppose.

Good deals are refreshing. Rachel and I went to the Ladies, Temple Street and Jade markets last night. I got a new Oakley wallet for HK$80 (Abou US$10). The lady first wanted HK$180, but I said 70. We honed our bargaining skills in China, so this lady didn’t really know who she was dealing with. She told me no way. I kept at $70. At $90, she told me this was her favorite wallet. She almost stroked it, bizarre. I could appreciate good taste though. I eventually got to my target of $70, but she had been so nice and a decently good salesperson, so I gave her $10 from my change. She smiled.

People from home are refreshing. I talk to members of my family fairly regularly during the week. They have proven very useful in helping me make decisions about Hong Kong, experiences I should make and chance I should take. Families are always a point of moderation, cooling your jets when needed, lighting fires when necessary.

In depth conversations are refreshing. I didn’t go out last night. I didn’t go out the night before. I didn’t go out this entire weekend. I couldn’t be happier with those decisions, instead I created a great bond with my neighbor Jessica talking about everything under the sun. She is the first good Latina friend I can say I have. She brought new perspectives on what its like to be a Latina accountancy student in upstate New York. I provided her with knowledge about being a mid-western politico in a big city. She said I was refreshing for being an Obama supporter. I gave her a hug when she praised Joe Biden.

It isn’t really every until I sit to think that I realize I don’t give people enough credit. As a collective whole, my abroad-mates have moved past many of the lines that are necessarily drawn during the beginnings of any long endeavor. I hung out with people this weekend I haven’t really talked to since the beginning of our trip. Now that’s refreshing.