Saturday, January 06, 2007

Orientation Day 2: CUHK Welcome Dinner

I arrived at the John Fulton Centre Parking lot and continued meeting a lot of new people. It wasn't until we were bused to the nearby technology park for dinner that I met other graduate students at my assigned table. No sooner had I met them then I was ushered over to a new table just for vegetarians. I was really thankful and pleased the OAL was so sensitive to us vegetarians. Although I admit feeling a little strange being herded together with the other vegetarians as if we were lepers. Altogether there were 6 boys and 8 girls, many of whom were from California. I've GOT to move there sooner or later!

the banquet room


It was odd being seated with the undergraduates because many of them had never been abroad. Hong Kong was their first time abroad. It was amusing to hear their thoughts on how "foreign" Hong Kong was. All I could think in my head was, "You think Hong Kong is foreign, wait till you go to mainland China, newbies!" Many of the students at the table couldn't use chopsticks. Many of the students felt the food was too oily. I wasn't sure anymore since I had already gotten used to my food being drowned in oil. I only observed that the amount of oil used in our food was about 25% of the amount used in Beijing...and for that I was grateful. One girl felt that condensed milk in her coffee was too gross. Many of the students were shocked that the dessert was not cake or pie, but a red bean soup. Most of them could not eat the red bean soup. The boy next to me was utterly grossed out by the whole fish and roasted pig on the meat-eaters' tables. I told them the story about the lamb in Inner Mongolia.

As much as I scoffed at their unfamiliarity with Asian culture that night; I have to admire them as well. These students, unlike many who would never go abroad, were touching the surface of Asian culture. Their journey from this point forward will be deeper and deeper into the layers of culture. I relished being able to re-live, through them, my first experiences way back when.

"You don't have to throw away your food here, you just leave it on the table and someone comes to clean it up. That's so different from what we do in the States!" -- overheard at the canteen

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good for people to know.