Fail, pt. 2

My posts about life in Hong Kong are long overdue, and I'm sorry. So much has happened in the past month, and the idea of writing about all of it is daunting. I suppose I can do it in bits and pieces. And I suppose I can start now...

I'm the only one from Swat studying at CUHK, but interestingly enough, I've run into a few people from my high school here. CUHK is built on the side of a hill, which makes walking on campus frustrating, especially given the recent weather. It is hot and humid as fuck. The campus is enormous, and I have gotten lost many times in it. There is a lot of green, but it's not very scenic. Pictures forthcoming. Oh, and I saw a snake once on my way to class alone through a shortcut. I was terrified.

I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with something worthy of writing about. I guess I still spend a lot time trying to find my place here, and trying to find something meaningful in this experience. I didn't come here because I wanted to party and escape Swat for a semester. I guess I was hoping I'd immediately feel a sense of belonging here, given that my family spent many generations here. And given how traditional my parents are. But that is far from what has happened. Rather, I'm really priding myself on being American, which is unlike me. I don't know why I feel the need to flaunt my English or make cultural references to things only Americans would understand. And why I still feel uncomfortable speaking in Cantonese, even though I feel perfectly comfortable doing so when I'm back in New York.

Things are finally starting to slow down, and I'm hoping I get more down time soon. I spend a lot of time off campus: at shopping malls, street markets, arcades, karaokes. It's been a lot of fun, certainly a more exciting month than any that I can recall, but it's also been exhausting. Speaking of exhausting, I'm pretty tired. Headed to bed, more later...