Friends from Another Land

Since being in Hong Kong, I have made friends from all over the world. The friends that I want to write about here are the local Hong Kong friends that I have made. There are basically 3 different groups (or I should say 1 individual and 2 groups) that are worth discussing. First, I met a girl named Ruby on my first day of classes in Hong Kong. She sat next to me in a class and even walked me to my following class several times (because it was too difficult for me to remember). Well, I eventually dropped the class, but Ruby and I still hang out. She has taken me to get tea, Dim Sum, shopping, etc. I am so grateful for her because she has been the nicest local student I have met, and she is so willing to help me figure out HK and also she is willing to make new friends even when she has friends at UST already. (This is Ruby and the cake we bought her on her birthday)



Another group of locals that I have grown to love are the locals in my Hall (mostly the executive committee of my Hall IV that call themselves Fourster). They are CRAZY (in a good way), and everyone on campus agrees to that. They hold many themed events and walk up and down our hall chanting things in Cantonese frequently. I started going to the events (even though it can be difficult because they always speak Cantonese at them), and they completely welcomed me in. Now I have friends named Desiree, Irene, Longman, So John, Darren, So Jai, Anita, Emily, Insect, etc. They are so great, and I feel a special bond with them.


They are so enthusiastic about our hall, and I love being a part of it. For example, the halls will compete in soccer/basketball games, and everyone comes out to cheer the teams on. The exec committee gets SO into it and they literally chant the entire 1.5 hours, non-stop. They chant "Ja Mu" (or something like that) which means VISTA in Cantonese. Vista stands for Vein IS The Almighty (Vein is our Hall exec co. name kind of because they provide the essential services for the life of the hall, just like a vein to the body). I have started chanting with them...which makes me an official part of the "cheer team." (This video is of us at the Hall IV championship basketball game...which we won! YEA!)



Hall IV has many traditions, but the most interesting is their tradition for male birthdays. When it is a guy's birthday, he gets...well...tortured. The most funny thing they to do the guy is this: they grab a hold of his boxers and pull him up into the air until the boxers rip off of him (while chanting something in Cantonese, of course...they love chanting). Apparently (and obviously), it is VERY painful. After this, they throw the guy in the dirty, nasty pond outside our dorm. Why? I have nooo idea. But they love it, and all the guys accept this as a Hall IV tradition.
Here is them doing it to an American guy on his birthday (go to minute 2:20), except his boxers wouldn't break because apparently American boxers are a lot stronger than HK ones. Hilarious.

The final group of locals that I have gotten to know are a couple students in my finance classes. I haven't gotten to hang out with them much outside of class, but I really enjoy their company. I have even abandoned my exchange student friends in the back of the classroom to sit with these guys in...the front row! Love it.