My Plan Comes to Fruition

I neglected to mention that I've befriended my two co-interns, Brian and Katherine. They're both Hong Kong University law students, and local. So advantage, them. But they're both extremely friendly and nice, and it's a real pleasure to have a couple of people to share the misery with. I guess being Chinese has it's advantages, because as we were chatting today, they mentioned that Saturday is kind of an optional work day. Now, I know I missed a couple of days, but this information would have been useful before. I mentioned to another co-worker (I'm making friends!) about this lack of information exchange, and he said "yeah, that's kind of common in the Chinese work place. You just have to talk to the right people". I actually forget the exact quote, but that's pretty close. As I was saying, my co-interns had evidently talked to the right people, because they have much more information that I do. But they cheerily shared it with me, and we all laughed about being there. We'll see what happens next week.

And it turns out that there was some minor holiday / celebration a few days ago, the story of which I will totally bastardize here:

A long time ago (but not in a galaxy far, far away. ... Actually, that really doesn't end the nerd, does it?) a guy was unhappy that a wish did not come true, so he threw himself into a river. He was a poet and statesman, and well-respected by his countrymen (not sure about that ladyfolk). Afraid that the fish would eat his carcass, the townsfolk made dumplings, which they threw into the river, so that the fish would eat them instead.

In celebration of this event, locals make dumplings. Katherine was kind enough to bring me a couple of the dumplings that her mother had made. I just ate the first one, and it was wonderful. It contained sticky rice, two types of beans, pork, shrimp, and some ingredients that she said she'd reveal to me in Monday. Yeah, that makes me a little nervous, too. Let's hope I make it to Monday. The dumpling was sincerely appreciated, and enjoyed. I will eat the second one tonight or tomorrow.

The other exciting development today was that I made a new friend (two, actually). I've been sitting at a desk normally occupied by Dennis, who was out studying for exams. He returned today, and I opened up the conversation by saying "hey, I noticed some bookmarks for guitar tab. I play a little myself". We all know how rockers stick together, so the bond was instantly formed. We chatted about music (both metal fans), and he was nice enough to point out several places in Hong Kong that I'd probably enjoy seeing. I realize that part of his enthusiasm was due to a lack of work, but still. So, now I have a new friend, and a list of hangout spots. Things sure are improving.

So maybe this wacky 6 day work week (shut up, Sam) isn't so bad after all. I mean, especially if it's optional.