Christmas in Shatin

Shatin is the closest city to the campus where I live and it's my local mall--a staple of life in Hong Kong. It's working class/middle class place, very local. A new, very expensive supermarket just opened in the mall and the whole character of the place is changing. It's been under construction since I arrived, adding to it's gritty feel, but now new floors are opening with swanky new stores. I missed the old, somewhat strange Shatin, full of stores with fashions you only see in Hong Kong.
But never fear! When the holiday decorations went up, I realized that Shatin is still very Hong Kong, despite now having an Esprit. The theme of the decorations is Christmas and butterflies. A strange combination? Well, yes. The whole thing is completely over-the-top, but people seem to love it. Everytime I've walked past it there are people having their pictures taken in front of the trees and human-sized butterflies that decorate the trees.

Hiking in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is famous for its beautiful urban skyline, but it's also naturally beautiful. I went hiking two weekends in a row in November. The first was to a waterfall in Tai Po, pictured below. It was the first time I ever took a taxi to a trailhead, but it turned out to be a great hike. The next weekend I went with Dr. Man and the new YUNA students (Yale University New Asia exchange program, sponsored by Yale-China and New Asia). We went to Sai Kung and hiked along the shore. All the paths are paved, but that doesn't make the hills any less steep. It's great to see a different part of Hong Kong and get outdoors when the weather is good.

Last day of class

On the last day of my English 1310 (first year English majors learn to write the college essay--think thesis sentence, topic sentences, evidence, etc), my students presented on music as poetry, so we got to listen to songs and presentations the whole class! It was a fun way to end the poetry unit, especially since they really don't like poetry. Honestly, I don't blame them--it's often so culturally sensitive and linguistically challenging that to them it appears hopeless. I felt more like a cheerleader in this unit than I had in previous units. But I think some of them ended up liking poetry--and that's a victory!
To celebrate the end of the semester, I made them brownies. At first I was really worried because NO ONE was eating them! I had taken precautions, knowing my students are Hong Kong kids and a bit fastidious--the brownies were each individually wrapped and I brought tissues for them! Finally, in the middle of the class, one of my students started to nibble. Once one person started they all ate! Phew.
So as class was ending, they all busted out their cell phone cameras and digital cameras. I took individual photos with almost all of them. Then we took a class photo. I felt proud about how close I felt to each of them and how close they felt to each other. While it will be nice to have a class next semester who didn't see me my first week of teaching, that first class will always be special.