When in Hong Kong...

By the time eight p.m. rolled around, I was in the kitchen, making stir fry out of noodles, choy sum, a few other vegetables, and chicken. Even though the place was pretty clean, I was wearing my house slippers, and I had also put on the new Winnie-the-Pooh apron I'd just acquired (Bebe, you can have the apron when I get back!). When I reached for the oyster sauce, though, a thought suddenly occurred to me: the apron, the slippers, the dress I was wearing underneath...dude, I was starting to look like an HK local.

Among other things, I've discovered how the locals stay cool. At first, I was completely mystified - there I was, sweating buckets, wearing only shorts and a tank top, and there they were, cool as cucumbers, sporting long sleeves and thick leggings and looking incredibly comfortable (spotted: woman in her 60's, wearing a long-sleeved zebra-striped ROMPER). Even the men in suits were sweat-free! How were they doing it?

Well, for starters, people don't actually use much deodorant here (although I really must pick up one of the miniature ones that they sell). Instead, there are aisles of aisles of "Antiperspirant body spray," and I hear that there are antiperspirant "lozenges," though I've never actually seen them. Also, I went shopping the other day (with Binh), and ended up buying long shirt-dresses. Add a pair of leggings and fun sneakers, and you know what? Now, I can pass for any other HK girl. And, surprisingly, these long, drapey "dresses" (oversized shirts, okay?) are incredibly light and breezy. You just hardly sweat at all!

(Okay, I haven't quite figured out how the guys in suits do it. Maybe they've just got mad skillz?)

Also, on a side note, one of my fellow Summerbridge teachers goes to HKU (Hong Kong University), and she's been telling me all about "uni" (university) life here, which sounds crazy busy, since they only go to school for three years, not four. Also, the dating scene here is apparently just like it is at any other college - pretty much kind of a fail (except for the long-distance relationships). Of course, all the Asian girls are in relationships with tall white guys, while the Asian guys at uni are apparently not so attractive (short, scrawny, etcetera). Also, while I've noticed a large number of lesbian couples, I have yet to see even one gay one. C'est la vie.