Sandy's life as a small potato in Hong Kong (May, 2002)

It is said that Hong Kong people have few problem adapting to the new environment everywhere. As a 'potato' growing up in this small city, I started getting used to the life I used to have in the past, as time went by. There wasn't much for me to do in my job for the time being and sometimes I went to the university library to borrow books or walk around just to keep myself awake in a long afternoon.

It was also time for me to do some exercises or 'small' potato would no longer be small but BIG!  So I started having some hiking trips with a friend of mine...

Just click on any of the following underlined dates and you can get to know what's going on with me that day.

May 1, 2002 (Wed)

First hiking trip

Labour Day turned out to be a 'walking day' for me as I went hiking with my friend for the first time today.  As it was a public holiday, lots of people could be found in the Peak, which is a popular tourist attraction from which you can have a broad view of Hong Kong.  Although the level of difficulty for the trail we walked was low, it was a good start, right?!

May 2, 2002 (Thur)

Day one as the new contract started

My full-time contract started today.  In fact so far I don't see there'll be much difference from my life as a student, besides the fact that from now on, I have to work around 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday and thus have no chance to take a nap!   I don't have any fixed working hours; I don't need to have formal dressing - T-shirt and jeans will be okay; my colleagues and I work on our own projects.  So, it's the same as when I went to school at Manchester!

Not much work to do yet...

May 5, 2002 (Sun)

Reunited with friends

One of the good memories about my study in Manchester is I got to know a group of good friends there, which is important to make my study experience unforgettable and pleasant. That's why their names appear in the acknowledgement of my dissertation, the first thing that I wrote for my dissertation (!). Today I had a gathering with two of my best friends that I had known in Manchester.  It was really like yesterday that we just met (in Blackpool of the UK). Now each one of us has a job or is looking for one, working hardly to earn a living...

May 8, 2002 (Wed)

Sleepy

Can anyone tell me what's the best way to fight against the Sleeping Devil in a dull afternoon? Oh, god, I almost fell asleep while reading a book that I had borrowed from the university library.  Is it always the case that one has few things to do when they just start their jobs (maybe only for those in an unimportant or powerless position?)? I've already done what I can in my desk - checked and replied to email, surfed the Internet, made my desk look tidy, and tried to make better use of my time by borrowing books to read. But still I couldn't help "catching a fish" (falling asleep)! Help! (or give me a pillow to make my sleep better.  It's not comfortable to fall asleep with my head swinging and I don't want my neck to get hurt by sleeping in a pose for a long time)

May 11, 2002 (Sat)

Hiking trip

The second time I went hiking. I really enjoyed it. Just relaxed myself, had a chat and laugh with my friend. When tired, took a rest. Along the way there were many 'lovely' old ladies and men. If you're too lazy or too busy to do an exercise outside your office, try going to the countryside for a hiking trip!

May 12, 2002 (Sun)

Mother's Day

I have to admit that I'm not a good daughter. On important occasions like mom's birthday and the Mother's Day, I have nothing to give my mom. Even if I do, it isn't anything special or expensive. But care is more important than any tangible present, right?  Still, I know my mom loves jewellery. Sorry, mom, you have to wait before I can buy you a big diamond ring!

May 15, 2002 (Wed)

A Beijing guy

It's a shame that my Putonghua is still poor after HK has become part of China. Many people around me can speak the language very fluently. In my office, all people except me can communicate with our D students who come from China in fluent Putonghua. I'm too afraid to speak the language. What I learnt from that elementary Putonghua course that I had taken three years ago had all gone.

Today when I was walking to the bus stop for home after work, a guy came to me and asked me in Putonghua for the ways to get to the MTR station. My first response was open my mouth without uttering any words. I could say nothing but English. Although in the end I could help him by showing him the directions, I think I still have to think about making efforts into learning Putonghua.

May 17, 2002 (Fri)

Quotes about life

believe in nothing other than myself...

May 18, 2002 (Sat)

Star War II

In the past, I didn't go to the cinema very often. I was not into film watching. But I started spending more time there since I was a student in Manchester where students could watch a film for around HK$30 (= 2.5 pounds) only. When I had returned to HK, I found even non-students could watch films at a low price (HK$25) in the morning shows of the weekends. This morning I woke up early just to see this long-awaiting film at a lower price. I hadn't watched Star War Episode I but as it had attracted a lot of attention, how could I miss watching such a big film, eh?! My comments after watching it?  Quite good.

May 22, 2002 (Wed)

A little obstacle in life

Got a BIG bad news today from my postgraduate tutor at Manchester about my application for scholarship to do a PhD. I was really sad after reading his email and felt like crying. I tried hard to prevent tears coming out of my eyes as I didn't want to frighten my colleagues in the first month of my job. But the news was hard to take and when I imagined I couldn't further my study and had to continue working in HK, I felt like it was the end of the world!!  I wanted to find someone to talk to but there was no one around to whom I could talk. In despair.

May 25, 2002 (Sat)

A greedy potato

Had a buffet dinner with my hiking friend and her former classmate of her MSc course.  Perhaps because we had a tiring day after our hiking trip in the daytime and also thinking how good it was to enjoy buffet dinner at a special promotion price, I had very good appetite this evening and I didn't miss any chance to taste every kind of food, especially salmon. Wow, yummy yummy.

But greediness often results in bad consequence. In the following days I didn't feel well...

May 28, 2002 (Tue)

Poor small potato got sick

I don't know if it was because I had eaten too much in the buffet dinner a few nights ago or because I walked too much in my hiking trip last weekend that I got sick!  Of course, there may not be a relationship between those events as they took place a few days ago. But I did start feeling not very well the day after my buffet dinner. Anyway, a girl who always thinks she's very strong finally had to surrender and went back home for a rest in the afternoon. Too bad that I got sick in the first month of my new job! :P

May 29, 2002 (Wed)

Two months passed by

Should I celebrate today as it's been exactly two months since I returned to HK? Celebrate because I got a good job and could lead a kind of life as a small potato?  But my future still remains unknown - will I be going back to the UK soon??

May 31, 2002 (Fri)

The World Cup 2002 Korea/Japan starts...

Oh, the World Cup 2002 started!  It's what a football fan has been long waiting for!!  I'd say part of the reasons why I decided to HK was I can watch the live broadcast of the games on TV, while I may not be able to do so in the UK. So, which team will you support? Me, of course China and England!

This page was last updated on Thursday, 16 October 2003.

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