Posts
Where has the time gone? In less than 8 hours Angelyn and I will board a train to begin our 3 day journey to Paris, France! Finally fulfilling a dream, I will spend the next three weeks traveling through France and Spain. I will try to blog if its a possibility, otherwise, you'll hear from me in a month. When I return, I'll be bringing my mother and cousin back to Shiyan to see my home.
School is on break for another month for the spring festival - the students are gone and the campus is quiet. Friends have slowly been saying their goodbyes and making there way to equally exciting places, from Budapest to Malaysia. China is shutting down, travel is insane as 1.6 billion people travel to their hometowns.
Its been nice staying around town a little longer than usual. We were able to complete a plan two years in the making and spent a few days in Hong Kong with our good friend Carole before she moves back to the states. Hong Kong - expensive, busy, beautiful, and CLEAN. View: On The Island - Hong Kong Photos
Most importantly, I was able to see my darling friend Dacy get married, and experience a little bit of post-Christmas snow. View: Off To A Great Start - January Photos
Its 2009, and this year is already full of blessings, excitement and challenges. Viva La Vida!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Just in case you snobby Americans had any unrealistic expectations
The following is the booking confirmation email I received after booking Trent and I a hostel in Hong Kong...it just cracked me up so I had to share it with you. If it helps to envision this more clearly, we paid $10 American dollars a night each, to sleep on a plank of wood behind a curtain in a room with 12 other people and 2 laundry machines.
Friendly Reminder: We ask our precious customers to read the whole passage below thoroughly so that you will solve most of the possible problems or have a clearer picture about our hostels, or even hong kong hostel-style.
1. The Hostelbookers.com company does not have the categorization-of-room-ty pe function on their website at present (they are establishing now). We can only sell our standard rooms on their website. So we fail to differentiate our deluxe rooms from other hostels.
2. Foreign customers from America and Europe easily have wrong expectation because the hostel in their country are large with a comparable low price because their country is large also.
3. As above, they always think the rooms of hostels in Hong Kong are very tiny. That's what I always observe form the reviews on the website. They think they should receive similar rooms in Hong Kong as they got in their country with the same price. They don't understand that the land in Hong Kong is among the highest in the world.
4. Customers, after traveling to the mainland China, always complain that our rooms are tiny as compared with what they get in China. They don't understand that China is a still developing country. Their land is a lot cheaper than that in Hong Kong. Though Hong Kong is returned to China, they two own two separate and different systems. This is the famous policy 'one country, two systems'.
5. Customers doesn't know that the room rates are fluctuated and decided by the market. I sometimes come across some customers asking why the room rates at certain period is a lot higher that what he got in the past. I have given up answering this kind of foolish questions (not offending).
Friendly Reminder: We ask our precious customers to read the whole passage below thoroughly so that you will solve most of the possible problems or have a clearer picture about our hostels, or even hong kong hostel-style.
1. The Hostelbookers.com company does not have the categorization-of-room-ty pe function on their website at present (they are establishing now). We can only sell our standard rooms on their website. So we fail to differentiate our deluxe rooms from other hostels.
2. Foreign customers from America and Europe easily have wrong expectation because the hostel in their country are large with a comparable low price because their country is large also.
3. As above, they always think the rooms of hostels in Hong Kong are very tiny. That's what I always observe form the reviews on the website. They think they should receive similar rooms in Hong Kong as they got in their country with the same price. They don't understand that the land in Hong Kong is among the highest in the world.
4. Customers, after traveling to the mainland China, always complain that our rooms are tiny as compared with what they get in China. They don't understand that China is a still developing country. Their land is a lot cheaper than that in Hong Kong. Though Hong Kong is returned to China, they two own two separate and different systems. This is the famous policy 'one country, two systems'.
5. Customers doesn't know that the room rates are fluctuated and decided by the market. I sometimes come across some customers asking why the room rates at certain period is a lot higher that what he got in the past. I have given up answering this kind of foolish questions (not offending).
Sunday, January 4, 2009
When students imitate Ghostbusters for a grade
Scene 1
Ghost 1: Oh! I'm thirsty. I want to drink some fresh blood
Ghosts 2: Oh! I'm hungry. I think children are delicious. It's time for supper now. Let's go and look for some children.
Scene 2
Child 1: What's wrong? Why are all the lights turn off?
Child 2: Brother, I am a little afraid. Oh! Look, what's that?
Children 1,2: Father, Mother, these are two ghosts in our house. Help!
Father: Don't worry. We will find them out. What did they look like?
Child 1: They are long black hairs which covered their faces.
Child 2: When the wind blowed away their hairs I saw their white eyes and long teeth.
Child 1,2: Oh! That's terrible! We are afraid.
Mother: Oh...my God! I need a cross which can protect us. Ghosts always afraid of it.
Father: Stay calm! I better take my gun. Okay! Lets go and see what happened.
Scene 3
Father: Heads up! I will shoot anyone who moves. Who are you? Where are you from? What are you going to do?
Ghost 1: We are lonely ghosts and live in the underground world.
Ghost : Though, what we look like is terrible, we don't want to harm you if you can afford some fresh blood and meat.
Mother: Oh! I killed a turkey just now, there is some blood and fresh meat. I think you'll like them.
Ghost 1: Thank you! You're very nice. In fact, we are angels in heaven. The God want to see whether you dare to help someone who looks terrible and frighten you.
Ghost 2: Now, our task is over. Your performance is perfect. May God bless you.
Ghost 1,2: May your family be happy forever. Bye-bye!
Family members: See you!
Ghost 1: Oh! I'm thirsty. I want to drink some fresh blood
Ghosts 2: Oh! I'm hungry. I think children are delicious. It's time for supper now. Let's go and look for some children.
Scene 2
Child 1: What's wrong? Why are all the lights turn off?
Child 2: Brother, I am a little afraid. Oh! Look, what's that?
Children 1,2: Father, Mother, these are two ghosts in our house. Help!
Father: Don't worry. We will find them out. What did they look like?
Child 1: They are long black hairs which covered their faces.
Child 2: When the wind blowed away their hairs I saw their white eyes and long teeth.
Child 1,2: Oh! That's terrible! We are afraid.
Mother: Oh...my God! I need a cross which can protect us. Ghosts always afraid of it.
Father: Stay calm! I better take my gun. Okay! Lets go and see what happened.
Scene 3
Father: Heads up! I will shoot anyone who moves. Who are you? Where are you from? What are you going to do?
Ghost 1: We are lonely ghosts and live in the underground world.
Ghost : Though, what we look like is terrible, we don't want to harm you if you can afford some fresh blood and meat.
Mother: Oh! I killed a turkey just now, there is some blood and fresh meat. I think you'll like them.
Ghost 1: Thank you! You're very nice. In fact, we are angels in heaven. The God want to see whether you dare to help someone who looks terrible and frighten you.
Ghost 2: Now, our task is over. Your performance is perfect. May God bless you.
Ghost 1,2: May your family be happy forever. Bye-bye!
Family members: See you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)