With less than 2 months left, I find myself alternating between feeling thrilled and terrified!  Here are a few thoughts that have become regulars in my head:

1.       I consider myself fairly low maintenance, but I am also a minor germophobe.  That being said, the thought of having to squat and “go to the bathroom” into a public hole, sometimes with no partitions so that everyone can see, makes me want to vomit, and then jump into a vat of antibacterial gel.
2.       I’ve recently seen some pictures of what private hostel rooms look like in Hong Kong, and they seem like tiny versions of dorm rooms- clean but approximately the size of a cubicle (What silly irony!).  I’m sure that some Hong Kong hostels, in comparison to other parts of Asia, are like the Ritz Carlton compared to the Motel 8.
3.       Through a new acquaintance, I have learned that traveling in China as a foreigner is similar to Heidi Montag going to school at MIT- they just don’t speak the same language.  I was surprised to find out that it is much more difficult to find an English-speaking person in China than I thought.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those people who believes that everyone in the world should speak English because it’s “the superior language” or anything, but I have generally been under the impression that English is more of a global language than it really is.
4.       THRILLING THOUGHT:  The food!!  I have a friend who recently told me he is from Hong Kong, and that knowing we will be in Hong Kong and China eating REAL Chinese food makes him very jealous.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love food.  I am similar to that of a garbage disposal, in terms of what I will and will not eat.  However, this brings me to my next bullet point…
5.    TERRIFYING THOUGHT: One of the very few things in this world that I will never, EVER eat is an insect or bug.  Not even escargot.  My childhood fear was the banana slug.  I still won’t go near one, nor do I enjoy looking at them.  Just saying.

Random Thought of the Night: We just booked our first two nights in Hong Kong at the Lee Garden Guest House!  I’m so excited to use my new knowledge of Mandarin!  Ghe ge nu hai zi zai kan bao ji!!!!!  Ghe ge nu ren zai chi mi fan!!!!!

-Sharon (yi ge nu ren!)

Filed under: Pre-Trip