Macau, Judah and Judo

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since my last post. Turns out school gets serious here once Chinese New Year passes. I've got a ton of work due this week, not to mention two tests tomorrow.

Time for a quick life update:

A few days after my return from Thailand I received a notice in my mailbox that I would have to change rooms in the next few days. The Reslife coordinators realized I must feel lonely without a roommate and wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on the experience. How thoughtful of them. It happened to be a particularly bad time to make me move to a room with a roommate, because Judah and Elie were coming to visit, and I wanted them to host them in the spare bed. I told the office I had a lot of work and asked them if I could have a week before I had to move rooms. They didn't mind.

Judah and Elie arrived on Tuesday, one day after I got back from Thailand. They stayed here for a week and it was great fun. About two hours after they arrived I insisted that we should climb the peak. I've decided that is the first thing every newcomer to Hong Kong should do. It is a good way to stretch after 13 hours on a plane, to make you tired enough to avoid jetlag and you get an incredible view of the city. The next day Judah and Elie explored Hong Kong (by which I mean they went to Kowloon and got fitted for custom suits) while I was in class. Afterwards, we packed some cloths into my backpack and headed to the ferry for a quick trip to Macau, Asia's Las Vegas.

Macau is barely an hour away by speedboat ferry, so the trip was quick and easy. We stayed at the Grand Lisboa, but didn't end up spending much time there. It seems it is hard to get up from a poker table. Quick story: When we arrived at the poker tables, we separated as there weren't enough seats for all three of us at any one table. A few hands in to my game, I was trying to figure out what the guy next to me had, as he just bet aggressively. Then, he told me. He did not mean to. He was discussing his cards with a friend standing next to him in a language he figured no one would understand. Unfortunately for him, he was not the only Israeli at the table. I couldn't help myself, and cut him off, telling him in Hebrew to fold , as I had him beat. He responded quickly, before registering a few seconds later that I spoke to him in Hebrew. After that, we became friendly, and played together for the next 3 hours, making fun of the other guys at the table.

The casino could not complain about the Hebrew, because the rest of the table was speaking Chinese. Just my luck that I sit at a random table in a casino in Macau, and I find myself siting next to an Israeli. Considering that I've seen Israelis in every city that I've been to on my trip, you'd think we are a bigger nation than we really are.

Macau, while in purpose similar to Las Vegas, is strikingly different in a few key ways. In Las Vegas, gambling is only part of the scene. People go to Vegas for the entertainment. You could spend days in Vegas, and never gamble a penny. Not so in Macau. People go there for one reason only: to make money. The casinos are all silent and serious and it is clear no one is there to drink or party. Gambling is a temporary profession for many Macau visitors, and people treat it as such. In fact, the Chinese government has been recently experiencing a real problem with high level executives and politicians trying to double and triple their organizations budgets with a quick trip to Macau.

We stayed until 10 AM, and then headed back to Hong Kong for a trip to Disney Land. I waited for Judah to come to Hong Kong before I went, because I knew how much he loved Disney, and also because I probably would have had no interest in going if Judah wasn't dragging us there. It ended up being a lot of fun, as many of the rides and shows are slightly different from in the US, and the poor English of the tour guides was hilarious. Afterwards, I showed Elie and Judah around Hong Kong a bit more. We stayed by Bruce Einhorn for Shabbat, and his family showed us a very nice time, kindly hosting all three of us in their apartment.

Saturday night, we weren't sure what to do. Judah and Elie had an early flight to Singapore , so whatever we did, they had to be awake early. What better way to ensure that you are awake than to never go to sleep? With this logic, we decided to head back to Macau for ten hours, and just play through the night. Thanks to some logistical trouble (Elie, Judah and I separated in the ferry terminal and could not find each other for about 2 hours) we didn't get to Macau until midnight. Still, we found a table at the Sands, and played until the first morning ferry at 6:30. Some of us did better than others, though it was clear Elie was the winner for the trip.

Once they left for Singapore I started focusing on school. Aside from the Rugby team, I also joined the Judo club, which is great because it is in all Cantonese, and I've been learning a lot from listening. Classes here are pretty different than at Brandeis, as they follow a modified British system here. I'll fill on more once I finish my midterms, and let you know how they go. One thing that sort of scares me. HKU as a policy that for any class over 25 kids, a belle curve is strictly enforced, and some percentage of the class is required to fail, no matter how well they do. I'm not planning on failing, but still, that is kind of intimidating.

Next week is Reading/Field Trip Week, which means another week of no classes. Most of the other exchange students are heading down to Thailand or Malaysia for the week. Not me however. My Elementary Logic professor decided to give us a test Tuesday of Reading Week, so now I can't do a long trip with everyone else. However, its not the end of the world. My new Chinese roommate is in the same class, and we've decide to take the rest of the week off and go to Guilin...oh haven't told you about him yet.

Next time. This is long enough for now, and I promise to not wait three weeks before my next posts.

PS Can anyone figure out what our special 'English' Disney guide was saying? We were with him for 15 minutes, and only recogonized the words "okay", "thank you" and "bye bye."