Hanging With Buddha & Getting Hit On By Buzz

 "The more people know about other countries and cultures, the more they become aware of their own cultural identity" 

-Mooij

This quote is from our textbook (yes mom & dad, I'm actually studying) and it's important to note when I am pointing out differences here, I'm actually learning more about our culture in the U.S. Not having "diet" drinks, eating chicken claws, and traveling on the left side of the road may seem weird or strange to us but this is their normal. There is no right or wrong.

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Week 1 treated me well, VERY well, and it's only going to get better :) 

• Learned the history of Hong Kong
• Visited Starcom agency
• Hung out with Big Buddha
• Ate seafood pizza (there was a baby squid on it)
• Got hit on by Buzz Lightyear 

    So I'll be frank, I knew very little about Hong Kong when coming here. Is it a country? Or are they owned by Britain? Aren't they Chinese? What language do they speak? Really, where did I think I was going??

Thank heavens for the history museum for answering my uncertainties:

• Hong Kong is a city-state and a special administrative region under China. Makes complete sense, right? Well basically, the British used to own Hong Kong and then gave them back to China in 1997, where they decided for 50 years Hong Kong would be on it's "own."
• They aren't under communism but they also aren't fully democratic. So.... China and Hong Kong don't really get along as well as they pretend. They also don't speak the same languages (Mandarin and Cantonese), which was news to me! 

    Next we visited Starcom, a media buying agency, which was an awesome opportunity. Seeing how an international agency operates locally really intrigued me, but lets get real... seeing Big Buddha that afternoon was the highlight of my day! 

Second largest outside sitting Buddha

One of the best parts was the way up to see the Buddha (not the 268 steps) but the cable car with a clear bottom, where you could see the ocean and the mountains below for 20 minutes. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!

Rice Capital of the World

    Food is not something I usually have a problem with but I can admit, here, it's a struggle. What's custom to this culture is not what my body or mind is used to but I'm trying. Meats are cooked differently and it's not uncommon to leave bones in. Again, it's not that this is wrong. Obviously everyone else here has been eating this way and they are fine. For this, I am thankful I grew up in a similar culture where rice was plentiful. (Thanks shug town) 

     One thing I suggest to any world traveler though is to try food chains you are familiar with in the United States, like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC or Starbucks and venture out. You may think this is ridiculous but as I've learned in class, these brands localize their food. They serve some of the food we're used to like Big Macs and cheese pizza but it's more interesting to try the food they customize for that culture: Rice Fun Wraps, Seafood Pizza (squid included), Red Bean and Green Tea muffins, etc. 

 
Hong Kong Disneyland

     I have been wanting to visit Disney again for awhile now because I haven't been since I was a kid and BOY was this just what I wanted and more. We spent 10 whole hours there and visited every part of the park. Of course, this one wasn't near as big as the ones in the states. But they have a

TOY STORY LAND!(Best part ever)

Erin and I share a love for Disney

   

Toy Story Land

• Disneyland Hong Kong is much cheaper
• But it's also smaller 
• Space Mountain and the Buzzlighter shooting game are the same & still just as awesome
• Great mix of American and Asian cuisine 
• It's Sleeping Beauty's castle, not Cinderella's
• Meeting characters and waiting in lines is not near as much of a hassle
• Mulan was not present, to be determined why (Sorry bro, no Mushu for you! Not like you're reading this anyway) 
• Aaaaaand finally... Buzz Lightyear hit on me. When Buzz did it, it was kind of cute. He got one knee, kissed my hand and I was completely and underly bashful, as seen obviously from below. 
• But when Winnie the Pooh did the exact same thing 30 minutes later, all my childhood memories of an innocent yellow bear and his pot of honey went out the window! Suddenly he looked more like a creepy old man with a beer belly and no pants on. '  '
• Luckily I met Mickey soon after who just gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek. Then I lived happily ever after!

Until next week friends (and mostly family), Macau is next and it's the Vegas of Asia!