I lied... there wasn't an update. My bad... but I've been trying to get a2dlife working and its not been cooperating with me. Anyway... I'm going to blog and let what happens happen. I'm not the tech... Mike is and so I get to dump these problems on him.

Let's see... What is Christmas like in HK?
Pretty interesting... There's the usual slew of Santas in all the big malls, except they're skinny Asian guys who barely fill a small Santa suit, have black hair and wear glasses with those thick plastic frames (that are "in" here), and say "He, he he" with a Chinese accent.... while handing out coupons for some store. The storefront decorations can best be described by "tacky". Take Christmas trees for example: from the 6-10 story tall Christmas trees (which are more baubles and flashing lights and gold ribbon than pine branches) to the 4 ft tall one made entirely of Swarovzki crystals hanging from a golden support (valued and for sale at... HKD 10,000,000... more than a million USD) to the Hello Kitty fiber optic one that flashes various colors and plays barely recognizable Christmas melodies that could easily be mistaken for some new cellphone ring tone. I miss the traditional American Christmas, with the smell of gingerbread and pine and freshly lit fireplaces in the air... rather than the plasticy smell of new toys. I miss snow and it being cold enough to see your breath hanging in the air rather than here where everyone is complaining about the coldest weather in years and its barely below 10C. (Not snow like the NE of the USA though...). I'd even settle for a UK Christmas, with plum pudding (and now that I'm legal, I can buy the one that has brandy and rum in it and light it like a traditional pudding) and Christmas carols (the real kind... not the cheesy American kind) and Christmas crackers (not the food!)...

But currently, I'm under lock-and-key it feels like... I miss home, that's Stanford, like the dickens (heck... I miss our annual high school reading of a Christmas Carol). I miss my friends as a number of them are still in the US and I'm not allowed to spend any time with the ones here anyhow.