In crowded Kowloon, I'm Thankful for parks

A Couple things just occurred to me: first, this blog makes it seem like time is zooming by. And I suppose it is. I'm in a state of disbelief nearly every week when I realize that it's already time to update. Hey-- I guess that's a sign that I really am doing my best to keep myself busy. Secondly, I'm pretty flabbergasted to just have realized that Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK. By the weather here, you'd never know it. Especially since the people of Hong Kong don't celebrate, talk about, or even know about the proto-birthday of America.

One thing I'm most thankful for this year (aside from my opportunity to study in Hong Kong which, in itself, is pretty thanksgiving-worthy) is the almost weekly trips I make to rural areas or, if worse comes to worse, just plain-old parks. Living in a tiny hotel room in a crowded city can really start to wear on me, so it's nice to get out at least once a week and just enjoy the weather, do some hiking, or otherwise just do some reading or make some time for some quite reflection outdoors. Today, I went to Kowloon city park. While nothing out of the ordinary, being their can still give you the impression that you're not in the city anymore. From one of the benches, I got a pretty good view of the old Hong Kong airport:



...So while I regret that I won't be able to be with my family this Thanksgiving, at least I know that I'll still be able to get away from the city if need be whenever I want to. All I need is to take a stroll down to the park.

In other news, this week should be a promising one. This Tuesday, I'm giving a presentation to my class on the oral and folk-tradition roots of ballads by the Chinese literati. Finishing that will be a HUGE relief, though there's still a lot of work I need to do to prepare tomorrow and Tuesday. After the presentation is finished, me and a friend have made vague plans to go to XiGong and get Pizza. Apparently, there's some really good Pizza to be had there. I am skeptical, but I will certainly report back with my findings. I am always down to explore new varieties of Pizza (note: the importance of the food demands that I capitalize the word regardless of its place in the sentence. I hereby decree that any time Pizza is mentioned, it should be mentioned as if it were a 'proper noun'. Only then can the greatness of Pizza be verbally represented).

To all my friends/family who read this: thank you so much for all the support you constantly throw my way, either through the phone, e-mail, or Skype. Enjoy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you during the Christmas holiday!

晚安！