Enjoying life!

No super exciting stories as in the beginning of the trip, but life has been good. New activities, dinner on many various occasions trying new foods with great people and only two weeks left! I sat down to type this blog post up this morning, but had a mini case of what I am calling quasi culture shock. Culture shock is the emotional and physical

discomfort one experiences when moving into a completely new environment. I feel that my positive and adventurous outlook on life have kept culture shock at bay up until this point. However over the past week and weekend I did not have any crazy exciting adventures to keep that honeymoon stage going. This morning I felt ok, just a little out of it. I couldn’t find the words to even make complete sentences for the blog and I was feeling really groggy. That’s pretty much how I felt all day, just not my self. This was the disintegration stage

After work was over, I was headed to a coffee shop near the famous Sernado Square (beautiful Portuguese stone work, I want it for my driveway!) to attempt to write this blog again. I once again got writers block, but not because of feeling funny…because while one of my co-workers, Sophia, happened to be at the bus stop at the same time and we were both headed to the same area. On the bus she told me she knew of a better

coffee shop and wanted to take me there. This turned into an evening of dinner, coffee and great conversation! This could not have come at a better time. Sophia has a great outlook on life and has is wonderful to chat with. Guided Serendipity in it’s finest. Who is guiding it? Well I am still pondering that one as I continue to explore and get to know myself better, but a greater power was keeping an eye on me. Thanks Sophia!

So I think I went through a mini case of culture shock in one day, which is why I called it quasi-culture shock. I’m not well versed on it, so I don’t know if it usually lasts longer, but I imagine if I were to stay here longer I would experience it on a greater scale. Culture shock is nothing to deny, it is a completely healthy part of the adjustment process. I expected to experience it at one point, so now I begin to prepare for my return Next Sunday! I will probably experience some shock upon my return to the states, as it is usually experienced upon returning as well.

Culture shock aside, last week was still an enjoyable one. I had a couple great evenings at the climbing wall. On Wednesday we made some plans for my last weekend here. Since I fly out of Hong Kong on a Sunday, a group of us are going to go climbing in Shanghai the Saturday before I fly out. Perfect way to cap off a great trip. On Friday at the wall it started to rain halfway through the evening, so w few of us headed to the indoor bouldering gym. It was a great workout, and then we went to grab a late night snack across the street, as it was about 1am.

I was really hoping to get some food from the guy on the corner known as Sai Guai. (little turtle in Cantonese) He is famous for his fried noodles, which he cooks to order at his corner wok station. I have passed by there and it always smells soo good. Unfortunately we got there as he was finishing up his last order for the evening, so we had to find somewhere else to go, which turned out to still be great. I had a picture of us

hanging out waiting for the food and wanted to post it up, but I somehow managed to delete it while my camera was in Chinese. I do however still have pictures of the food. I had noodles with prawn eggs on them, the eggs looked like some kind of seasoning. They still tasted like shrimp though and were very good. My friend Kevin said it was one of two places in Macao you can get that dish. We also had fried wontons and fried fish balls (not like mountain oysters, but actual balls formed out of fish and some other items) The fish balls are one of my favorites thus far.

On another food front, I went to eat at Carmen’s parent’s café. (Carmen is a student from the Institute for Tourism Studies, which is where I am interning. She spent the last semester studying abroad at the University of South Carolina. We ran into each other quite often

at our favorite coffee shop Cool Beans) This was fun, she treated me to some truly authentic Macao cuisine. I had a fish sandwich, beef sandwich and a soup with beef tongue, chicken, pork and some time of ligaments from the stomach of a cow. The ligaments and tongue were good!

Last week was also a week full of physical activities. I started going to a yoga studio and that was a great choice. I have felt some much better after only three classes. The serenity and stretching and relaxation are so wonderful. I even felt better when I went for a run on Sunday. Yoga really does compliment overall fitness and mental well-being. Check it out. Also played some badminton with some of my co-workers today. They are intense about their badminton here. While I still need to work on my timing, I am proud to say the 20-year veteran says I have professional potential. What can I say, I just got it...but I don't really see professional badminton in my future. Ha!

I am in a good place now. Feeling good and excited for the next couple weeks!

In good health,

Brent

Ps I know I need a haircut, lol, I was compared to the likes of Ronald McDonald this week (Thanks Yuki) lol! I'm am just too afraid to get it cut here, I don't care that much about my hair, but I do care enough to not risk getting it cut when I can't communicate with the person cutting it.