F12

Today is Day 5 of the camp I'm attending (Breakthrough). Summary of what we've done so far:

Day 1: Arrived at shuttle bus with aunt and uncle (both worried sick that I would get lost in the 5 meters between them and the bus). Put into group "F-fu" (a.k.a. "F-jou"). Found a fellow canuck. Ming sick, coming tomorrow.

Day 2: Don't remember. It's all a blur. Played games in our groups, I think.

Day 3: Went rock climbing in the gym (or maybe that was yesterday). Spiffy! Made it up surprisingly fast the first time round. Was blindfolded in the second try and only made it halfway. Achy arms and shoulders.

Day 4: Did pushups with everyone else in the camp because someone was late. Final day of the 'Face-Off' simulation. My group was placed as Pakistan for every single day (meaning we had to open doors during dinnertim; no perks). Today, we finally got a chance to be in a group with some rights (be served by another group, get dessert, etc.), but ended up as India instead. As a result, we had to eat 'third world food' (i.e. plain rice with soy sauce), while the American group feasted on a buffet, served by various camp counselors (dai see). It was fun, pasting ourselves against the windows to see what America got to eat, but we also had to hike up a mountain that evening. Very hot and exhausting. Made it to the top in the dark, at around 9 PM.

Day 5: Spent the night on the mountain (meaning, sitting on a rock until dawn, protected from the elements and insects by a giant garbage bag and poncho. We were supposed to meditate on our "I.D. Plus" and finish some assignments, but the latter required a flashlight, which only attracted more bugs, so I just tried to sleep. On the rock. Did I mention my shoes and socks got soaked three times while crossing three brooks? I'm glad I did it though, becuse the views were amazing. Who would have thought that Hong Kong could have so much wilderness in it? We got back to the camp building at about 9 or 10 AM and did some cleaning up. I'm writing from the library (Xyber Cafe) during the only free time we have scheduled for the week we're here. I think all my roommates (six of them) are all asleep in our room, L1-04.

That's about it...so far. It feels weird to be writing in English after hearing so much Cantonese and Mandarin for so long. I'm beginning to understand a little Mandarin, too. I was confused in the beginning because everyone here calls Mandarin po tong wa (common speech?). Okay, off to take a nap now. More later if I can find time to use the computers again.