Observations

1 - Chinese people will queue for ANYTHING. Getting into the train, getting off the train, taking the lift, waiting to get into class, waiting to order at a canteen, waiting for a table to free up at said canteen. Queue while shopping, queue while waiting to play basketball, queue sixty deep to get onto a bus! The worst is when you see people queuing up to take the lift, then you take the stairs up the one floor you needed to go, then you see those very same people getting out on the first floor. Lazy Hong Kong people. But really, there is a great love for queuing up here, which is funny when you consider...

2 - Chinese people suck at queuing up. Straight up. It's mostly orderly, but in some instances, civilization just breaks down. Waiting for the train in Beijing (we were first in line to get on), but as the train doors opened up suddenly we're 10 people behind! Which is to say that the people here love to queue, but they also have a great love for flaunting those other people who have queued patiently. The people who are most guilty of this? Old Chinese people. They'll cut you, then go into the I-don't-understand/respect-your-elders bit. The best way to get around is to basically set basketball style picks for everyone; just screen out all of the other people so your group can get in, then roll to the hoop (train doors).

3 - Guiltiest pleasure while in HK: KFC. WTF? OK, too much of that, but um yeah it's pretty cool. They deliver right to your door on campus, plus it's decently cheap. And you can totally rationalize it, because it's not exactly the same KFC as back in the States. I think there is a secret 12th herb/spice that they put in just to appeal to Asian people. It's probably ginger or something. Chinese people love ginger. They offer such delicious non-western treats as egg tarts ("dahn tat"), rice with mushrooms in brown gravy, and rice with chicken with some sort of white gravy.

Ok I generalize about Chinese people a lot. This is mostly for comic effect, but dang if most of it isn't true. Have you ever tried to follow a Chinese guy through a crowd of other Chinese people? Nearly impossible, everyone looks the same! Darn stereotypes for having a basis in truth...

Also, I used the phrase "non-western" two paragraphs ago, and I'd like to clarify my position on this whole issue of calling things western/non-western:

What a load of imperialistic crap.

Thank God for my postcolonial literature class (even if it wasn't a great time) but damn talk about investing importance through language. Why is Asia part of the Orient? Why is the US part of the west? Because that's the way (white people) wrote the books. Look I'm sure I'm missing many a nuance here, but really the imperial mission carried out earlier in history by countries like those in Europe (as well as the United States) created this distinction and dichotomy to suit itself. California is east of Hong Kong. The United States is west of Europe. That the "west" is automatically thought of as developed and industrial I don't think is entirely proper. That's just a way of saying "We're one way, and everyone else is another way" (referring to people as "oriental" is also another good way to make me think you're something of a jackass). Now the phrase "global north" (think about it: does Mexico reach the industrial standards of the US? No, but then again not many countries do, but Mexico is still in "the west") I think is more suited (good one Prof. Neti), but I doubt anyone wants to deal with me harping on them when they say "let's get western food" because that'd make me the jackass.

That went on far longer than I had intended...