Lox vs Salmon Sashimi

Hey all!

It's been a little while, so let me catch you all up! Two weekends ago (9/18 - 9/19), Daniel and I went into Hong Kong for the first time. What was the occasion? Why, the Jewish new year of course! We headed in on Friday in order to attend Rosh Hashanah services. It took about an hour by bus to get from the border crossing in Yantian to Kowloon Tong, which is a subway station in Hong Kong. From there, we took the subway to Tsim Sha Tsui, which is where we stayed, and took an additional 20-30 minutes. Including the bus from our apartment in Yantian to the border crossing, all in all, it took a little less than 2 hours to get from our apartment to our hotel. Tsim Sha Tsui is the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula and is across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong island. After we checked in, we headed down to the synagogue, which was on Hong Kong island, and we met four of our friends there. The service was very nice, and it reminded me a lot of my synagogue at home. They even served challah, apples, honey, cookies and wine after services! After we ate some of the Jewish snacks the temple provided, we all went to a small restaurant near where services were held at a small but nice Italian restaurant. Daniel and I shared a steak and a pasta dish-- delicious!! Then we met up with one of  Mark's (one of our friends who we went to services with) friends in Lan Kwai Fong, which is in central Hong Kong. Lan Kwai Fong is a small area of Hong Kong that is just bar after bar after bar. Prices are pretty expensive-- some bars were charging prices similar to NYC prices!! Despite the prices, the area itself is pretty neat-- people just hang out in the streets while the bars play loud music.

The next morning, Daniel and I decided to head to "Main Street Deli" for a real "Jewish" lunch. Once we sat down, we got pickles and health salad! We shared a matzah ball soup- and the matzah ball was huge! Daniel got a corn beef sandwich, which came with fries, and I got lox and bagel, which came with sweet potato fries. It was delicious!! It was a great lunch to celebrate a new year!! (Check out the pictures on the right!) After we finished eating, we went to the Hong Kong art museum and walked around for a little while. We even ran into some our fellow program participants there! Then we walked to one of the HUGE  malls nearby just to look around. They sell all of the most expensive brands there... and I really mean ALL of them! Soon enough, we were tired from the big lunch and walking, so we went home.

At night, Daniel watched the Wisconsin football game (and much to his delight, they won!), and since the Michigan game aired at 3:30 AM, we DVRed it.  We watched the game together on Sunday and I was happy to find out that Michigan won!! :)

This past Sunday to Monday was Yom Kippur. Unfortunately we had to work while we were fasting, since the holiday is not quite as prevalent here in China. We had some untraditional food: for both pre-fast and break-the-fast we ordered pizza! While not quite the normal lox and bagel, mashed potatoes, brisket, etc... it was still delicious!

This Thursday is National Day here in China (like our Independence Day). This Saturday is Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates the moon (this is when the moon is supposedly the brightest and biggest) and has many stories associated with it.  For us, this means a 8 day vacation from October 1-October 8! However, because we are missing so many days of work, we had to work this past Sunday and will be working on Saturday when we get back from vacation. This is just part of the culture in China; even the students had to go to class on Sunday and will have to go on Saturday when they get back.

What are we doing with our time off? Well... on Saturday and Sunday, we will be heading into Hong Kong to meet my parents!!! I'm so excited to see them!! I just realized that they will be here for Mid-Autumn festival, so it's really great that we will all get to experience a Chinese holiday together! Apparently people go up to the top of Victoria Peak and light lanterns. Parks and buildings will all be lit up with lights! Also, there is a "67-metre-long fire dragon" that winds its way through some streets in Tai Hang, which is close to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. I'm so excited!!

Then on Monday, my parents, Daniel and I will all head to the HK airport, and while my parents will be going back to the US, Daniel and I will be on our way to JAPAN!!! We are spending the first 2 nights in Tokyo, the 3rd in Hakone and the 4th in Tokyo. We are coming back on Friday, which is actually the first day back to work, but we don't have any classes on Friday, so we were able to extend our vacation! Hakone is a town about 1.5 hours from tokyo by train, and it has many mountains and hot springs. One website called it the "Yellowstone of Japan". I guess we'll see!

Anyway, I think that's enough for now! We will be sure to update the blog when we get back from our trip!

xo,
Zoie

ps- Even though it's sometimes hard for me to stay awake through an entire game, I still have to give a shoutout to the 4-0 Wolverines! GO BLUE! :)