Hong Kong and China

We were only in Hong Kong for one day, but I managed to get as much out of Hong Kong as humanly possible in that day. We got off the ship as soon as we could and wandered around town. Obviously wandering has become one of my favorite things to do. It involves a lot of walking around aimlessly with no real destination, yet that is how I get the most out of a place. What I found in Hong Kong was that it is very westernized to the point where I was relating it to New York City and that it is really trendy. I felt that because I wasn’t wearing my converse high tops with a designer handbag that I was being looked down upon. But that is ok. I still enjoyed my time there. From Hong Kong I left for Beijing. My trip was hosted by Peking University, which is the Chinese equivalent to Harvard. Not only did this trip do the usual site seeing in Beijing, but it also provided our group the opportunity to hang out and get to know Peking University students. This was honestly really cool. All of the students were incredibly intelligent and most of them were going to the United States (aka- Harvard and a few other places) for graduate school. They were very open, which allowed me and the other blunt SAS students to ask them all sorts of questions about China and their opinions on the United States. This was fun and in some cases even funny. I love honesty. One night we played games with the students, which was so much fun. Trying to explain to a bunch of Chinese students how to play limbo was possibly my highlight of the evening. We had a great time. Along with hanging out with these students we also did the typical Beijing site seeing. Like, the Great Wall. I hiked up the Great Wall of China. Yes I did. It was A LOT steeper than I imagined and had MUCH larger steps as well. And once we got to the top point of our section of the wall, I felt so very accomplished. Just looking down and seeing what we had climbed up was incredible. We had just climbed up the Great Wall of China. The flippin Great Wall of China. We also visited the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Ming Tombs. All pretty cool. But what was even more exciting was when we visited Tiananmen Square. For some reason I was really really into Tiananmen Square. Its quite possible that its history just really intrigues me, but actually being there, in the square, wow. At one point a couple of us made a human peace sign lying down in the middle of the square. It just made sense at that moment. Also, on a fun little side note, while in the square we got bombarded by what I like to call the Chinese paparazzi. There were about 5-10 of us SAS students just kind of people watching when a few Chinese people came up to us and asked to take pictures with us. Ok, cool right? Well, following those few people another group came up and wanted to take pictures with us as well. This went on for like 30 minutes. We must have been in some 50 random peoples pictures. One woman even pushed her daughter into our group and took a picture. It was really funny and entertaining. And it didn’t really stop in Tiananmen Square either, it continued on into the Forbidden City and everywhere we went. I felt like a star. Oh, and we also went to an acrobatic performance. Holy moley. That was crazy. These people were bending into positions that God clearly didn’t intend people to bend into. I had never seen anything like it.

Vietnam.

Crawling through Vietkong tunnels, shooting Ak47’s, visiting disabled childrens schools and regular schools, shopping, boating down the Mekong Delta, visiting the War Remnants Museum were just a select few of the activities that I participated in while running around Nam. Day one in Vietnam began with a little history lesson. We took a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are some of the intricate tunnels that the Vietcong built during the Vietnam War. These were the craziest things. They were so tiny. Megan and I, being both 5 feet tall, attempted to squeeze into one of the actual tunnels thinking it would be no big deal. But this was definitely not the case. Apparently, you have to not only be really short to fit into the tunnels, but you also have to be really, really “narrow” for a lack of a better word. I think I got my leg into the tunnel and that was all. At the Cu Chi Tunnels there were also old booby traps that the Vietcong set up. Lots of spikes and sharp things that you definitely wouldn’t want to mess with. We were also introduced to and able to check out various types of weaponry used during the war, like AK 47’s. And by check out, I mean shoot. I shot an AK 47. Multiple times. And woa, that thing has got a kick. It was a pretty stimulating experience. The next few days in Nam involved me visiting a few different schools, including a disabled childrens school, which schooled both def children and mentally handicapped children. These kids were just awesome. We basically ran around and played with them. I had one heck of a time. Yesterday I went to the Mekong Delta. And let me just say, it felt like I was alive in history, yet again. And I kind of was. When you think of the Vietnam War and you picture the hot, sweaty, jungle like conditions and the soldiers carrying their huge guns over their heads trudging through the water, you are basically thinking of the Mekong Delta. That’s where I was. Very interesting. Today I went to the War Remnants Museum. My jaw was practically open the whole time. Pretty freakin powerful. And I just realized that I sound like the biggest history nerd ever…and for some reason, I am ok with that. History rules! Wohoo! Off to Hong Kong and mainland China.

P.S. A huge thank you to Logan’s mom for bringing me my protein bars. They make me quite the happy camper. And another random side note, if anyone has ever heard of Hello Panda before you are one lucky ducky. And if you haven’t heard of them, you should. Get them. Eat them. Enjoy them. They are delicious little cookies.

Malaysia

Malaysia. A country in which I knew very little about upon arrival, and still, upon departure, know very little about. And here is why. Somewhere in India I was blessed with a little rash on my leg. This little rash then got infected and spread. So, I took some antibiotics, which caused me to break out in hives. So here I was, arriving in Malaysia, covered in hives with a spreading infectious rash (not infectious to anyone else, just me, have no fear). And the best part, no one knew what it was. So in order to effectively treat my little treat I was sent to a hospital in Malaysia. Cool right? Oh ya. Who can say that they’ve been to a hospital in Malaysia? And furthermore, who can say that they’ve ever had a biopsy done in a hospital in Malaysia? Ya, I am pretty sure that you can’t say that. It was all in all a rather INTERESTING experience. So, in a nutshell, I spent my time in Malaysia at a hospital and even came out with some pretty cool souvenirs such as hospital receipts and some pretty sick stitches. And everyone, be sure not to worry. I am fine. I am on medications and well on my way to being my pristine, flawless self. With love from Malaysia, Catie.

The pictures above…
Me in the “operating” room following my biopsy and me “buying” one of my few souvenirs in Malaysia. Good times.